Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) as well as Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.-12) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), in introducing the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) of 2024, legislation that would address health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities as well as women, the LGBTQ+ community, rural populations, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities across the United States. HEAA has been introduced in every Congress since 2003, with support from CAPAC, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), also known as the Congressional Tri-Caucus.

HEAA builds upon policies enacted under landmark health care legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act and Inflation Reduction Act, and lays out additional investments and policy changes to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities, address systemic health inequities, and ensure access to high-quality and affordable health care for all.

The bill incorporates provisions from Senator Padilla’s Equal Health Care for All Act, Mental Health For Latinos Act, and Health Equity and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Community Inclusion Act, among other priorities.

“Everyone deserves access to affordable, culturally competent health care,” said Senator Padilla. “Yet persistent structural inequities too often prevent historically marginalized groups from receiving essential care, despite the disproportionate risks they face to their physical and mental health. Our bill takes critical steps to address the unique health needs of these communities, including by expanding access to equitable reproductive care, combating high-impact minority diseases, and diversifying our health care workforce.”

“Everyone deserves access to high-quality, affordable health care, but health disparities prevent many marginalized and underserved communities from accessing these essential resources and services,” said Senator Hirono. “The Health Equity and Accountability Act will help to dismantle these barriers by implementing comprehensive provisions to address inequities, including strengthening data collection, increasing access to health services and resources, and diversifying the health care workforce. I am proud to lead this effort and will continue working to ensure that communities across Hawaii and throughout the country have access to the affordable and equitable health care they deserve.”

“Every individual, regardless of their race, ethnicity or socioeconomic background, has a right to high-quality and affordable health care,” said Senator Booker. “This legislation is designed to dismantle the systemic barriers that prevent many Americans from receiving the dignified, equitable care they deserve. By enhancing data collection, expanding service access, and promoting a diverse health care workforce, we can better address disparities in our health care system and improve the experiences of underserved communities.”

HEAA’s comprehensive policy changes are laid out across 10 titles:

• Data Collection and Reporting – Strengthens collection of data to better identify health disparities and inform policies and standards to prevent continued bias and inequities.

• Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Health and Health Care – Improves access to and quality of culturally and linguistically appropriate care for non-English speakers.

• Health Workforce Diversity – Directs funding to diversify the health care workforce and better supports workforce development for underrepresented minority health professionals.

• Improving Health Care Access and Quality – Addresses systemic barriers to quality care for disparity-impacted communities through expanding coverage, improving access, innovating in delivery, and creating health empowerment zones.

• Improving Health Outcomes for Women, Gender-Diverse People, Children, and Families – Addresses reproductive and sexual health needs, aiming to dismantle barriers to access to health coverage and services, information, and other vital resources.

• Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders – Strengthens protective factors, expands access to services and resources for mental health and substance use disorders, and reduces the structural barriers that contribute to behavioral health inequities.

• Addressing High-Impact Minority Diseases – Addresses high-impact minority diseases by increasing services and resources including screenings, research, treatments, and coverage.

• Health Information Technology – Expands and invests in health information technology infrastructure to reduce impact of health disparities on racial and ethnic minority communities.

• Accountability and Evaluation – Ensures the federal government is held accountable for efforts to reduce health disparities and requires further transparency.

• Addressing Social Determinants and Improving Environmental Justice – Defines social determinants of health, as well as the role they play in health inequities, and contains proposals to address these root causes for health disparities, including provisions to address environmental hazards, gun violence and hunger for seniors, children, and families.

In addition to Senator Padilla, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

HEAA is endorsed by over 70 organizations, including Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, National Immigration Law Center, National Health Law Program, American Kidney Fund, National Minority Quality Forum, Center for Law and Social Policy, and National Network for Arab American Communities. The full list of endorsing organizations can be found here.

“The Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) is a critical initiative of the broader movement for health equity. In every Congress, HEAA outlines an agenda for equitable policymaking in the health sector. These goals are only as achievable as we are willing to challenge our own limitations. On behalf of the racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse communities represented in the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), we were honored to participate in the development of HEAA in this Congress. Title I in particular outlines how the recent revision to the federal standards for data on race and ethnicity can be leveraged to improve the quality of health disparities analysis in the federal government. We are honored to strive alongside the office of Senator Alex Padilla, who has led the charge to ensure that the newly revised data standards are implemented to enhance health equity. By passing this and other key provisions of HEAA, Congress can take an important step toward the development of a more equitable and evidence-based system of healthcare service provision,” said Adam Beddawi, Policy Manager at the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC).

“All of us living in the U.S., no matter where we were born or how much money we have, should have quality affordable health care,” said Kica Matos, President of the National Immigration Law Center. “HEAA addresses unfair obstacles so that more people can access care, including ensuring immigration status and language barriers don’t stand between families and the care they need. We are grateful to Senator Mazie Hirono, Representative Barbara Lee, and the Congressional Tri-Caucus, for leading this important effort to eliminate health disparities.”

“As an antipoverty organization, the Center for Law and Social Policy knows that health equity is strongly tied to economic justice,” said Isha Weerasinghe, Associate Director of Mental Health and Well-being at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). “The Health Equity and Accountability Act includes critical language around data equity, culturally and linguistically sensitive health care, restoring federal health benefits for immigrants, improving maternal health care, and ensuring mental health services are available. CLASP supports HEAA as a critical step in ensuring everyone has access to quality health care.”

Senator Padilla has long been a leader in the fight to make health care more equitable in the United States. Earlier this year, Padilla and Senator Booker announced the Equal Health Care for All Act, bicameral legislation that would make equal access to medical care a protected civil right to help address the racial inequities and structural failures in America’s health care system. Last year, Padilla, Booker, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced a Senate Resolution to declare racism a public health crisis. As a co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, Padilla has introduced a trio of bills to address the unique mental health needs of military children, Latinos, and farm workers.

Earlier this year, Padilla announced the Health Equity and MENA Community Inclusion Act, legislation that would help make sure the federal government accurately recognizes the experiences and needs of members of MENA communities. He urged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to fully implement the bill after the Biden-Harris Administration updated the standards for race and ethnicity data collection and use to include a MENA category. Previously, Padilla joined Senator Warnock in introducing the Kira Johnson Act to address the maternal mortality crisis, especially among Black moms and people of color. Additionally, he introduced the bipartisan Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act to pave the way for increased investment in the renovation and construction of urban Indian health facilities.

The full text of the bill is available here. A one-pager is available here.

###