Letter to Congressional Social Determinants of Health Caucus in Response for Information
September 21, 2021
Congresswoman Cheri BustosUnited States House of Representatives
1233 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
Congressman Tom ColeUnited States House of Representatives 2207 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 |
Congressman G.K. Butterfield
United States House of Representatives 2080 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
Congressman Markwayne Mullin
United States House of Representatives 2421 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 |
Dear Leaders of the Congressional Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Caucus:
CEO Action for Racial Equity (CEOARE) is a Fellowship of over 100 companies that mobilizes a community of business leaders with diverse expertise across multiple industries and geographies to advance public policy in four key areas — healthcare, education, economic empowerment and public safety. Its mission is to identify, develop and promote scalable and sustainable public policies and corporate engagement strategies that will address systemic racism, social injustice and improve societal well-being.
We applaud and recognize the convening of this caucus bringing together members of Congress to highlight the opportunities to improve health outcomes and increase existing and future federal investments in social determinants of health. In leading this work, we urge you to explore SDOH policies and legislation from a racial equity lens and recognize the role structural racism and bias plays in exacerbating health disparities specifically for communities of color.
Health disparities have been documented for decades and reflect longstanding structural, societal and systemic inequities rooted in racism and discrimination. From healthcare to food equity to education, Black Americans have not experienced the same quality of services and opportunities and race is the common denominator when it comes to these disparities.
To further highlight the correlation between structural racism and health disparities, we have included some key metrics below across the following categories:
- The U.S. Economy – $16 trillion in GDP has been lost over the last 20 years because of racial discrimination. By addressing SDOH and racial disparities, we can increase GDP by $5 trillion in a five-year span.
- Healthcare
- Black Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 at four times the rate of white Americans and receive worse care than white Americans in 40% of medical visits.
- Food Equity – 39% of Black households with children experience food insecurity and faced a food insecurity rate of 25% prior to the pandemic.
- Education – Black school districts receive $23 billion less than white school districts and face a funding gap of $5,000 per student per year.
- Income – Limited income to purchase effective and sustainable amenities for virtual healthcare (i.e., device ownership, digital literacy, broadband access and connectivity)
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of social determinants of health in health outcomes, as it is increasingly demonstrable that social inequalities in health are profoundly, and unevenly impacting morbidity and mortality. This is apparent in how much these disparities have been exacerbated. The life expectancy gap has increased from four to six years for Black Americans just in the last year. In addition, the US spends $93 billion per year in healthcare costs that could be reduced by addressing inequities through SDOHs and mitigating the further widening of health disparities going forward.
We appreciate the task now before this Caucus to collect stakeholder input on the challenges and opportunities in addressing SDOH and how to better facilitate effective social determinants of health intervention. We have submitted a response to your request for information and we are committed to working with Caucus staff to dive deeper into this important work in the time ahead. We hope to connect with you in the near future to see how we can collaborate and use our 100+ companies to help push these efforts forward.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to driving this important work forward.
Sincerely,
CEO Action for Racial Equity