WEDNESDAY MARKS the anniversary of President Barack Obama's signing of the landmark health reform bill -- the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

After decades of stiff opposition from the deep-pocketed, special-interest defenders of the status quo, the president and Congress finally came together and enacted a comprehensive legislative package that represented the biggest step we've ever taken toward addressing the health needs of the people of this nation.

For California's populations of color, who have for so long endured deep systemic barriers to health care, enactment of the Affordable Care Act was a watershed moment. As such, we should recognize and celebrate the significance of this date.

African Americans make up about 6 percent -- 2.2 million people -- of our state's population, yet bear the brunt of health disparities when compared to nearly every other population. The following are a few notable examples:

 

  • Low birth weight among African American babies is 12 percent.

     

  • Infant mortality rates are 2.5 times higher among African Americans than whites.

     

  • Diabetes rates for African American adults are 12 percent; they're only 7 percent among whites. 

  •  Hypertension among African Americans approaches 40 percent; it's 28 percent for whites.

  • Nearly 20 percent of all HIV/AIDS patients are African American.

     

     

  • Obesity among African American children is at 28 percent; 46 percent are defined as unfit.

     

    These trends are amplified here in the East Bay, which is home to more than 30 percent of California's African American population.

    Of course, passage of the Affordable Care Act alone didn't mean an end to these disparities. But it did mean an important step in that direction -- one that no other president has been able to accomplish.

    By expanding coverage to California's 8 million uninsured people, enhancing funding for health centers and safety net programs, incentivizing doctors and nurses to work in underserved communities, and strengthening oversight of the insurance industry, the Affordable Care Act began a needed push toward the system change that's needed to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the health disparities that disproportionately impact areas, such as East Oakland and Bay Point.

    We should be proud of the steps the president and Congress took a year ago, and we should be equally proud of the early actions California took to make health reform a reality.

    No longer can a child be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition or where an insurance company drops coverage when one of its members gets sick. Young adults can remain on their parents' coverage plans up to the age of 26, and health plans can no longer place lifetime limits on payments for care.

    And these are just a few provisions that have been implemented because of the national effort to reform our inequitable health care system.

    The fact is that African Americans, as well as every other population in the Bay Area and elsewhere, are in a much stronger position when it comes to getting health care today than they were one year ago. What's more, they'll be in an even stronger position next year as more reform measures roll out.

    So while some may continue to use the health reform bill as a wedge issue, I'm hopeful our historically underserved populations recognize what this anniversary signifies: Their first real shot at affordable, quality health care.

    B. Darcel Harris is Executive Director of the California Black Health Network, which is based in Sacramento.