November program on health care access to offer dual focus and discussion

By Amy Gage and Julie Michener
Nov. 10, 2009

An upcoming program will illuminate racial disparities in healthcare and the unique challenges immigrants face in accessing the system Wednesday, Nov. 18 on the St. Kate's campus. The ongoing series, "Hazardous to Your Health," engages the community in dialogue about inequalities in accessing the healthcare system in the United States.

Next in the series:
"Equality and Access to Health Care: Racial Disparities and the Immigrant Experience"
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m.
Jeanne d'Arc Auditorium
St. Paul campus

More information:
(651) 690-7700
The series, entitled “Hazardous to Your Health," is being hosted by St. Catherine University and is co-sponsored by Physicians for a National Health Program (PHNP), a membership organization of more than 16,000 physicians that supports a single-payer national health insurance program. Admission is free.

The speakers at the event Nov. 18 will include:

  • U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minneapolis, will appear via a pre-recorded speech.
  • Dr. Raje Poonam, a physician who works at St. Paul's Open City Health Center serving immigrant populations.
  • Cris Nelson, RN, a registered nurse from the Minnesota Visiting Nurses Association. A large portion of her 40-year career has been spent providing care to immigrants and refugees.
  • Pam (Pandora) White, RN, CNP, a registered nurse and a certified nurse practitioner, who has more than 26 years of healthcare experience in communities of color and underserved populations. She is a member of the North Point Health and Wellness Center staff in North Minneapolis and is also in the process of opening the Health Empowerment Resource Center for women and girls.

"Even though the United States now has an African American president, shocking racial differences still exist in healthcare and health outcomes," says a release from PHNP. "On Average, African Americans live less long and have more diseases than whites. Native American men in South Dakota may expect to live only into their 50s.

"Research has shown," the release concludes, "that income level and insurance status makes up only a small part of these differences. Why does so much disparity exist and what can we do about it?"

According to PHNP, the United States spends twice as much as other developed countries on health care -- and yet 47 million people are uninsured. Starbucks pays more for health care than it does for coffee beans, and the inflationary costs of health care rise steeply every year.

"Health care is a right, not a privilege," the PHNP release says. "It is an issue of justice when necessary care is unavailable or denied."

Physicians address the issue
Dr. Oliver Fein, professor at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and president of the board of PNHP, and Dr. Elizabeth Frost, a family practice doctor and co-chair of Physicians for a National Health Program–Minnesota, spoke at the first event in the series to a gathering of about 80 physicians and other health care providers, as well as the public.

Single-payer health care is "a wonky kind of term," Dr. Fein acknowledged, and one that often is misunderstood as government "taking over" the delivery of care. "Single-payer" refers to the principle of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers being paid by a single source -- as happens in Canada and Australia, for example.

Dr. Fein cited several policy issues driving the debate about access to health care in the United States, where some 45 million people currently are uninsured: mandates to buy private insurance, increased health-care regulation and how to pay for universal care. He and Dr. Frost claimed that single-payer insurance would save the nation $400 billion.

The cost of 'no care'
According to a recently released study by researchers at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University, medical problems contributed to nearly two-thirds of all bankruptcies in 2007. The study was published online June 4 at the American Journal of Medicine website and will be in the August printed issue.

The data were collected prior to the current economic downturn and showed that between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by almost 50 percent. The authors' previous 2001 findings have been widely cited by policy leaders.

The study also reported that three-quarters were insured at the start of the illness that led to bankruptcy, including 60 percent who had private coverage. Two-thirds were homeowners and three-fifths had attended college. In many cases, high medical bills coincided with a loss of income as illness forced breadwinners to lose time from work. Often illness led to job loss and, with it, the loss of health insurance.

Ongoing conversation
Audience turnout at the healthcare series has been moderate but passionate. Among comments heard at a recent forum that focused on businesses and healthcare:
  • "It is not business' job to be in social services. Let them focus on their products."
  • "I don't know anyone who's satisfied with healthcare. Fifty to 60 percent of Americans want a government option to healthcare."
  • "It's often said that Canada and other government-funded programs ration care. But they're spending half of what we're spending, which is 18 percent of our country's Gross Domestic Product."

Upcoming topics
Twin Cities-based Queenan Productions is producing the lecture series for viewing on local cable-access stations. The final topic in the lecture series will be "Economics of Health Care and Solutions," Dec. 9.

St. Catherine University established the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health in September 2007 to engage regional and national partners in helping to meet urgent challenges such as inadequate primary care, lack of access to healthcare and the need to prepare a well-educated, patient-centered healthcare workforce.

For more, visit the School of Health section of the St. Catherine news site.

Contact Amy Gage and Julie Michener, (651) 690-6829

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