Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Health Care & Wellness Committee

HB 2531

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Changes the name of the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council on Health Disparities to the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council on Health Equity (Council) and shifts the focus to achieving health equity with a greater focus on social determinants of health, rather than specific conditions and outcomes.
Requires boards and departments with a representative on the Council to submit an inventory of the data related to social determinants that it collects to the Council, and requires the Council to issue a report on the data and data gaps.

Background:

In 2004 the Joint Select Committee on Health Disparities was created. The committee issued a report on health disparities in Washington in 2005. The committee identified the need to facilitate communication between state agencies, communities of color, and the public and private sector regarding the issues surrounding health disparities.

In 2006 the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council on Health Disparities (Council) was established. The council consists of members from state commissions on African-American, Asian Pacific American, Hispanic, and Indian Affairs, and boards, departments, and councils relevant to education, commerce, health, environment, and workforce training. The council is required to hold public hearings, gather information, and conduct studies to understand how the actions of state government can contribute to or help reduce health disparities. The Council is required to meet at least two times per calendar year. The Board of Health is required to conduct health impact reviews in collaboration with the Council. Health impact reviews are defined as a review of a legislative or budgetary proposal that determines the extent to which the proposal improves or exacerbates health disparities.

Every two years, the Council must create an action plan for eliminating health disparities, which may address up to five diseases, conditions, or health indicators in each plan. The Council is required to prioritize diseases and health indicators based on prevalence and severity of the health disparity. The Council is also required to provide reports on the progress of the action plans every four years.

The 2017 report Race and Ethnicity Student Data: Guidance for Washington's Public Education System, by the Race and Ethnicity Student Data Task Force sets forth guidance for schools, districts, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction on how to collect race and ethnicity data in a transparent manner, while ensuring individuals know and can practice their right to self-identify. The guide suggests that data disaggregation, which refers to breaking down information in smaller subpopulations, such as by gender, grade level, race and ethnicity, provides a more informative summary of where opportunity gaps exist.

Summary of Bill:

The name of the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council on Health Disparities is changed to the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council (Council) on Health Equity. The focus of the Council is shifted to social determinants of health and achieving health equity, in addition to eliminating specific health disparities.

The action plan and progress report are consolidated into one report that must be produced every two years. In addition to considering specific diseases, conditions, and health disparities, the report must also consider social determinants of health and the potential impacts on health equity.

The following boards and departments with a representative on the Council must submit an inventory of the data related to social determinants it collects to the Council:

Department of Health;
Department of Social and Health Services;
Department of Commerce;
State Board of Health;
Health Care Authority;
Department of Agriculture;
Department of Ecology;
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction;
Department of Early Learning; and
Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board.

The Council is tasked with creating brief guidance describing the types of data that the entities must include in their inventory. For each data set, each entity must provide information about the purpose of the data, the types of demographic data that are collected, and the feasibility of collecting race and ethnicity according to the categories identified by the 2017 report Race & Ethnicity Student Data: Guidance for Washington's Public Education System. The Council must compile the inventories into one report, summarize the types of demographic data that can be disaggregated, and highlight the gaps of subracial and subethnic data collection according to the Race and Ethnicity Guidance. The Council must submit the report to the Governor by October 15, 2019.