On October 31, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final standards for collecting and reporting data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status. These standards implement Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act, and set the minimum for the collection of demographic data in federally-sponsored surveys.

On November 1, 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) voted yes on a comprehensive list of proposals to reduce health disparities and improve access for the diverse communities in New York State, including immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ populations.

“On behalf of the Coalition for Asian American Children & Families, we applaud HHS and the MRT for putting forth a series of standards and proposals that will improve the health for millions of individuals and lead us towards greater health equity for all. We are proud of Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, our health policy manager, for her work on the Medicaid Redesign Team Health Disparities Work Group as well as mobilizing Project CHARGE partners to participate in the public comment process for the Affordable Care Act regulations”, said Vanessa Leung, Deputy Director.

“Our partners played a critical role in shaping our recommendations and providing feedback to ensure that the needs of the Asian Pacific American communities are understood and met. The HHS standards and MRT health disparities proposals are a huge step in acknowledging that Asian Pacific American health concerns are significant and that we can no longer be seen as ‘other’ or be invisible,” said Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, CACF Health Policy Manager. ‘)}