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Bordallo reintroduces proposed Pacific Islander Health Data Act
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Posted on Jul 14 2011
[B]WASHINGTON, D.C.[/B]—Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo has reintroduced a bill that would develop and implement a national strategy to identify and evaluate the health status and health care needs of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders living in the United States and the Freely Associated States.
H.R. 2486 directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the standards and definitions of health care systems in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. The proposed legislation would also update the 1998 Institutes of Medicine report “Pacific Partnerships for the Health: Charting a New Course for the 21st Century” to include data regarding the statue and performance of health care systems in the insular areas and determine the effectiveness of donor aid in addressing the needs of the insular areas.
“This bill will provide critical information to health care providers and organizations that work with Pacific Islanders so they can develop strategies to better serve these communities,” said Bordallo. “The health survey will be used to determine the health care needs of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander communities, and to better inform health policy to address these disparities. I thank Chairman Daniel Inouye from Hawaii for introducing companion legislation in the Senate, and I appreciate the support of all the bill’s co-sponsors in the House. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, and I will continue to work to improve health care for pacific islanders throughout our country and the Freely Associated States.” [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]
