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Making the case for health reform -- Past meets present : the historical roots of Obamacare : mental health, minority health, universal health -- Pulling back the curtain : behind the advocacy for health reform and health equity -- The fight is on : a closer look at the final efforts to pass health reform -- Brushes with death -- Breaking down the law -- Moving forward : continuing the movement

Even though health equity is a key compo­nent of the transforming journey of health that our nation is embarking on, little has been done to trans-disciplinarily coordinate health policy research and collaboratively address issues driving health inequities. This article examines the past and present health policy issues affecting health equity in the United States and discusses the need to ad­dress the multiple, intersecting determinants of health in order to fully realize health equity and eliminate health disparities in the future. Ethn Dis. 2019;29(Suppl 2): 343- 344; doi:10.18865/ed.29.S2.343.

The allegory of the orchard : The political determinants of health inequities -- Setting the precedent : America's attempts to address the political determinants of health inequities -- The political determinants of health model -- How the game Is played : successful employment of the political determinants of health -- Winning the game that never ends -- Growing pains : tackling the political determinants of health inequities during a regressive period -- The future of health equity begins and ends with the political determinants of health.

The science of eliminating health disparities is complex and dependent on demographic data. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) encourages the adoption of electronic health records and requires basic demographic data collection; however, current data generated are insufficient to address known health disparities in vulnerable populations, including individuals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, with disabilities, and with diverse sexual identities.

Health disparities have persisted despite decades of efforts to eliminate them at the national, regional, state and local levels. Policies have been a driving force in creat­ing and exacerbating health disparities, but they can also play a major role in eliminat­ing disparities. Research evidence and input from affected community-level stakeholders are critical components of evidence-based health policy that will advance health equi­ty. The Transdisciplinary Collaborative Cen­ter (TCC) for Health Disparities Research at Morehouse School of Medicine consists of five subprojects focused on studying and informing health equity policy related to maternal-child health, mental health, health information technology, diabetes, and leadership/workforce development. This article describes a "health equity lens" as defined, operationalized and applied by the TCC to inform health policy development, implementation, and analysis. Prioritizing health equity in laws and organizational policies provides an upstream foundation for ensuring that the laws are implemented at the midstream and downstream lev­els to advance health equity. Ethn Dis. 2019;29(Suppl 2):329-342; doi:10.18865/ed.29.S2.329.

Despite growing evidence that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting communities of color, state-reported racial/ethnic data are insufficient to measure the true impact. We found that between April 12, 2020, and November 9, 2020, the number of US states reporting COVID-19 confirmed cases by race and ethnicity increased from 25 to 50 and 15 to 46, respectively. However, the percentage of confirmed cases reported with missing race remained high at both time points (29% on April 12; 23% on November 9). Our analysis demonstrates improvements in reporting race/ethnicity related to COVID-19 cases and deaths and highlights significant problems with the quality and contextualization of the data being reported. We discuss challenges for improving race/ethnicity data collection and reporting, along with opportunities to advance health equity through more robust data collection and contextualization. To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on racial/ethnic minorities, accurate and high-quality demographic data are needed and should be analyzed in the context of the social and political determinants of health.