Jon L. Christensen: “the health budget is a critical piece of our overall budget and agenda. It is defined by the glaring disparities in…”

“the health budget is a critical piece of our overall budget and agenda. It is defined by the glaring disparities in health status that exist for the African American community. HIV and AIDS have been our focus, but we also die from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, infant mortality, stroke, and other diseases in numbers greater than all other minority groups combined. Mr. Chairman, this is an emergency. Specifically, this budget will include a minimum of $500 million for the CBC Minority HIV/AIDS initiative. In addition to continuing the programs already started, the increase will allow us to address HIV and AIDS in correctional facilities, increase funding to more vulnerable groups, increase prevention and treatment activities for sexually transmitted diseases and substance abuse, expand research, increase Medicaid funding, bring our programs to smaller cities and rural areas, and greatly increase the technical assistance that will enable our community-based organizations to take advantage of this important resource. In the broader area of disparities, we will fund an expansion of the racial and ethnic approach to community health programs, to expand it beyond the existing 32 communities and enhance funding to the health careers opportunities program and National Health Service Corps to do better outreach and provide scholarships for young people of color to enter health profession schools. We would fully fund, also, the provisions of H.R. 1860, 2391, and 3250.”