“We still have to make major investments and pass transformational legislation,” he said, identifying mental and maternal health as key areas of focus.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he’s looking to next year — and beyond the 2024 election — to make major strides in Congress on equity in health care.
“We have to vote the right people into office, number one,” he said at the POLITICO Health Care Summit of the steps needed to eliminate health care disparities. “There are solutions right there on the table for us … I don’t see much of that happening now, but that’s why next year is going to be critical toward moving the ball forward.”
Whether looking to increase the number of Black physicians or incentivizing hospitals to open in underserved areas, Congress needs to remain proactive for health equity gains beyond the pandemic, he said.
And the levers to make those changes cut across party lines in both chambers of Congress. Lawmakers have used appropriations, Medicare and Medicaid policy, or standalone programs to address inequities in the past. But the work that needs to be done is difficult in a divided Congress, Bowman said.
“We still have to make major investments and pass transformational legislation,” he said, identifying mental and maternal health as key areas of focus. “We have to talk about deconstructing a system built on racism and colonization.”
Sol Flores, deputy governor of Illinois, agreed with Bowman’s assessment, saying that state and federal officials need to work together to move forward on health equity, especially as Medicaid unwinding is underway.
The post-pandemic redetermination of eligibility for Medicaid enrollees threatens the most vulnerable patients, health officials have said, making the unwinding process important in eliminating disparities. But that process is moving quickly in some places, with more than 500,000 people already taken off the rolls.
“We are making sure we’re talking to people when and how they need to be talked to,” she said. “This administration has been extremely helpful to our efforts.”
Nutrition, education and housing, among other services, were also mentioned as current and future policy solutions to eliminate health disparities.
Jamila Taylor, president and CEO of the National WIC Association, the nonprofit education and advocacy arm of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, said program workers are already bracing for what the unwinding of pandemic Medicaid help could mean.
“We know that this is not going to be a single solution,” she said about maternal mortality disparities. “Whatever the solutions are that we build and put together, they have to be comprehensive in nature.”
