Since its creation by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2007, the Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities has been fostering dialogue on racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, examining the development of programs and strategies to reduce disparities, and encouraging the emergence of new leadership focused on health equity. For the past several years, a prominent topic of discussion within the roundtable has been the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA has multiple provisions specific to race, ethnicity, and language and other provisions with significant implications for racially and ethnically diverse populations. In April 2013, the roundtable held a workshop to address many issues surrounding the ACA, including expansion of coverage, delivery systems, and access points, service delivery and payment reform, public-private partnerships, and challenges to the safety net. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Population Health Implications of the Affordable Care Act is the summary of a workshop convened in June 2013 by the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Population Health Improvement to explore the likely impact on population health improvement of various provisions within the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This public workshop featured presentations and discussion of the impact of various provisions in the ACA on population health improvement. Several provisions of the ACA offer an unprecedented opportunity to shift the focus of health experts, policy makers, and the public beyond health care delivery to the broader array of factors that play a role in shaping health outcomes. The shift includes a growing recognition that the health care delivery system is responsible for only a modest proportion of what makes and keeps Americans healthy and that health care providers and organizations could accept and embrace a richer role in communities, working in partnership with public health agencies, community-based organizations, schools, businesses, and many others to identify and solve the thorny problems that contribute to poor health. Population Health Implications of the Affordable Care Act looks beyond narrow interpretations of population as the group of patients covered by a health plan to consider a more expansive understanding of population, one focused on the distribution of health outcomes across all individuals living within a certain set of geopolitical boundaries. In establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, creating a fund for prevention and public health, and requiring nonprofit hospitals to transform their concept of community benefit, the ACA has expanded the arena for interventions to improve health beyond the "doctor's" office. Improving the health of the population - whether in a community or in the nation as a whole - requires acting to transform the places where people live, work, study, and play. This report examines the population health-oriented efforts of and interactions among public health agencies (state and local), communities, and health care delivery organizations that are beginning to facilitate such action.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Offering unparalleled and complete insight into the efforts by the Obama administration, Congress, and external stakeholders, 150 Years of ObamaCare illuminates one of the most challenging legislative feats in the history of the United States.

At the turn of the 21st century, several important reports and events designed to raise awareness of health disparities and to describe initial efforts to reduce health disparities took place. The Surgeon General's office released several reports that showed dramatic disparities in tobacco use and access to mental health services by race and ethnicity. The first real legislation focused on reducing health disparities was signed into law, creating the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities within the NIH. In 2001, the IOM released its landmark report, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, highlighting the importance of a focus on health care quality rather than a focus on only access and cost issues. Building upon these reports and events, the IOM held a workshop on April 8, 2010, that discussed progress to address health disparities and focused on the success of various federal initiatives to reduce health disparities. How Far Have We Come in Reducing Health Disparities? summarizes the workshop and explains the progress in the field since 2000.

Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This brief guide explains Section 1557 in more detail and what your practice needs to do to meet the requirements of this federal law. Includes sample notices of nondiscrimination, as well as taglines translated for the top 15 languages by state.

The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.