Jul 03, 2009  |  By: Lou Chibbaro Jr.  | COMMENTS     

A bill introduced last week by gay U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) aimed at curtailing discrimination and disparities faced by LGBT people in the nation’s health care system has so far drawn only 12 co-sponsors.

But Capitol Hill observers note that one of the 12 — Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) — is a key player in the drafting of legislation to carry out President Obama’s health care reform proposals.

Officials with LGBT and AIDS advocacy groups say they are hopeful that Waxman will push hard to incorporate some or all of the provisions of Baldwin’s bill into the final version of the sweeping health care reform measure expected to introduced soon in the House and Senate.

“We feel the existing draft on health care reform isn’t strong enough on LGBT issues and health disparities in general,” said Ronald Johnson, deputy director of AIDS Action, a national group that advocates for AIDS-related issues. “I would like to see her bill incorporated into the health care reform package.”

Baldwin’s bill, the Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act, calls for federal funding to conduct research and gather data in areas where LGBT people face discrimination and inadequate services in the health system and in federal, state and local health programs.

“Our current health care system fails LGBT Americans on many levels,” Baldwin said. “Although we have ample anecdotal evidence of these disparities, the federal government lacks even the most basic data on sexual orientation and gender identity and health.

“This bill invests in research and takes critical steps towards improving the health of LGBT Americans and their families.”

In addition to funding data collection and research, the bill calls for certain health related provisions:

• Non-discrimination policies for all federal health programs;

• Funding for “cultural competence” training for health care providers;

• A new Office of LGBT Health within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services;

• Funding for community health centers that serve the LGBT community.

Waxman, in his role as chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, one of three House committees overseeing the Obama health care reform proposals, is said to have considerable influence over shaping the contents of the health care reform bill expected to be introduced in the House this summer.

Jerilyn Goodman, Baldwin’s press secretary, was cautious about commenting on whether Baldwin introduced her bill as a tactical effort to incorporate her proposals into the Obama health reform legislation.

“I can tell you that this is a topic she’s keenly interested in and hoping to see accomplished,” Goodman said. “And she’s, as always, open to trying every avenue to get that accomplished. So she’s introduced her bill.”

Johnson and Carl Schmid, director of federal affairs for the AIDS Institute, another Washington-based AIDS advocacy group, said the Obama health care reform proposals would be helpful to people with HIV and AIDS but wouldn’t initially be a substitute for the longstanding Ryan White CARE Act, which provides federal funding to cities and states for AIDS-related programs serving low-income people.

Both noted that the Ryan White Act is set to expire Sept. 30 and a bill to extend it has yet to be introduced in Congress. Legislation to reauthorize the Ryan White program is expected to be introduced this summer, the two said, and their groups are calling on people to urge their representatives in Congress to support a three-year extension of the program.

“It’s a very successful program,” said Schmid. “It’s the payer of last resort for poor people with HIV and AIDS.”

Although the health care reform legislation expected to surface in Congress this year would ease the burden on Ryan White programs, it won’t fill in all the gaps covered by Ryan White for at least three years, Schmid said.

Schmid said the Early Treatment of HIV/AIDS Act, or ETHA, which has languished in Congress for more than a decade, would provide Medicaid coverage for low-income people with HIV, with the aim of preventing them from advancing to full blown AIDS, at which time they become eligible for Medicaid.

Schmid and officials with other AIDS advocacy groups also are calling for incorporating the ETHA measure into the Obama health care reform package.