The Health Authority’s mission is about access to health care for all. But it’s about more than that. It’s about access to health – the right to health in a culture that promotes health equity.
The inequality of health status in our country is appalling. While we strive for maximum enrollment in health insurance programs and the expansion of community health and wellness resources, the bottom line is that the quality of your health is largely determined by where you live. Health disparities fall along the lines of race, ethnicity, and geography. Often those correlate as one.
The Health Authority has been, and continues to be committed to increasing access to Medicaid, MI Child, and other health benefit programs for the uninsured and underinsured. With the promise of health reform extending Medicaid to thousands more in Michigan, we anticipate the potential of much greater access to health services.
Additionally, we remain committed to expanding community health services such as federally qualified health centers, other community health centers, and free clinics.
Community health scholars and practitioners have established the importance of place in determining health status: the quality of environmental health, personal safety, availability of public and private health services, access to fresh food and cultural practices with regard to food preparation, health literacy, and transportation are among the issues that define place and impact health disparities.
The essential question in our national health debate is whether we will accept that personal health and well-being is an essential right of living in America. That question remains unanswered, but the Health Authority is committed to working with community health advocates such as MOSES, MichUHCAN, and others to create an environment that promotes health equity and reduces health disparities.
Ultimately, we all have to work for health equity. It’s a movement.