By David Cruz
Correspondent
Michelle Machado, a case worker with the Hispanic Multi-Purpose Service Center in Paterson, sees HIV and AIDS patients all day long. She knows first hand that the most marginalized members of this community are the ones who have the biggest problems accessing good health care.
“There’s not one Latino doctor in the clinic here,” she said. “I have a problem with that. The client wants to speak to the doctor alone, he can’t. They have to have someone come in and speak with them.”
Language barriers are just one of the roadblocks facing communities of color; immigration status, geography, education and physical disability are among some others. Congressman Bill Pascrell and Sen. Cory Booker were in Paterson today to announce legislation they’re proposing that would help bridge the gap. It’s called the ReDUCE Act, an acronym for Reducing Disparities Using Care Models and Education.
“The ReDUCE Act will direct the Institute of Medicine to issue a report on what the extent of the health disparities in this nation, in this state and our region, to identify … what are the contributing factors that led to these disparities,” said Pascrell.
Pascrell says the report will be the basis for creating a grant program that will be used to fund outreach and other programs that would be administered through community-based organizations. Sen. Booker, who will introduce accompanying legislation in the Senate said the disparities between those who have (or even know about) their health care options and those who don’t, can be jarring.
“In a number of very bad diseases, terrible diseases and conditions, Garden State ethnic minorities, specifically, have higher death rates for every single one of these diseases,” added Booker, “and these range from prostate cancer, kidney disease all the way to infant deaths, HIV, diabetes and breast cancer.”
But with Congress set to recess until after the November elections — both these men face reelection — it seems unlikely that a divided Congress will even take up this measure.
“We’re not gonna stand back,” snapped Pascrell. “We’re not going to stand down because of a recalcitrant majority in the House of Representatives.”
The Jersey lawmakers say they’ll reach across the aisle to move this bill forward, but, so far, no word on any co-sponsors from that side, which leaves case workers like Machado to do what they always do.