Health care legislation includes Office of Minority Health, possible ACORN funding

I’m not sure what’s more disturbing. The fact the federal government feels the need to demand six bloated federal bureaucracies add an official Office of Minority Health, or that ACORN may well qualify for grant cash to “conduct public education activities to raise awareness of the availability of qualified health plans.”

The Weekly Standard’s blog has the details, but I’m sure you remember the basket-case Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) who was proudly bucking the trend of Democrats by stating he would not vote for a bill that did not include a health care public option. Well, he did change his mind once he got what he was looking for.

Burris told THE WEEKLY STANDARD: “It was the disparity provision that was put in, which we had something to do with, in terms of making sure that diabetes and the other diseases that are affecting minorities are really studied by HHS in all of these pilot programs.”

The provision he cites, found on pages 240 through 248 of the manager’s amendment, requires that six different agencies each establish an “Office of Minority Health.” The agencies are the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”

So much for equal treatment under the law. This means a lot of money is going to be floating around to specifically “research” health problems affecting minorities. So where will that cash be heading?

The amendment – linked here courtesy The Weekly Standard – has language that may allow ACORN and other similar organization to apply for grant cash. Here’s a section of the amendment from page 241

In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, shall award grants, contracts, enter into memoranda of understanding, cooperative, interagency, intra-agency and other agreements with public and nonprofit private entities, agencies, as well as Departmental and Cabinet agencies and organizations, and with organizations that are indigenous human resource providers in communities of color to assure improved health status of racial and ethnic minorities, and shall develop measures to evaluate the effectiveness of activities aimed at reducing health disparities and supporting the local community. Such measures shall evaluate community outreach activities, language services, workforce cultural competence, and other areas as determined by the Secretary.’’

John McCormack at The Weekly Standard continues…

According to a Senate legislative aide, the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now could qualify for grants under this provision. ACORN would also qualify for funding on page 150 of the underlying Reid bill, which says that “community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups” may receive grants to “conduct public education activities to raise awareness of the availability of qualified health plans.”

I see this as a pay-off to Sen. Burris since his community organization brotherhood – not just ACORN – is guaranteed action for the future in the form of grants from the federal government.

Michelle Malkin points out this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to race-based fiefdoms included in the Democrat’s health care takeover.