In order to build support for health reform and inform congressional Members and staff about health and health care disparities, the National Working Group on Health Disparities and Health Reform will be coordinating a congressional briefing on Tuesday, September 22 in the Senate from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm in room SVC 208 and 209. The focus of this briefing will be to highlight the costs associated with health disparities in our country as well as the cost-savings we would realize from reducing these critical disparities. Within that context, the briefing will include discussions such as why data collection is critical, as well as issues regarding workforce development, language access, health coverage, quality, prevention, and the economic costs & savings.

Speakers include:
Norman Anderson, PhD (CEO – American Psychological Association),
Tom Bornemann, EdD (Director – The Carter Center Mental Health Program),
Carolyn Clancy, MD (Invited) (Director – AHRQ),
Kavita Patel, MD, M.Sc. (Invited) (Director of Policy – White House),
Marcos Pesquera, R.Ph., MPH (Director – Center on Health Disparities at Adventist HealthCare),
Brian Smedley, Ph.D. (VP and Director – Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Economic & Political Studies)