LGBT Question on the National Health Interview Survey

Our Appropriations Request Is Moving!! Ask Your Senator to Sign On in Support of an LGBT Question on the National Health Interview Survey

 A few weeks ago, Out With Cancer asked for your support in calling your Representatives.

 Thanks to your efforts, 46 Representatives supported the addition of an LGBT question to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Now Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) is leading the charge in the Senate to rally support for appropriating the $2 million necessary to add this question. The Senator has begun circulating a sign-on “Dear Colleague” letter in the Senate to show support for adding $2 million in increased funding to the budget for the National Center for Health Statistics, which will pay all costs associated with adding a question about sexual orientation and gender identity to NHIS.

 This survey helps set the federal government’s priorities in funding health programs, so gathering data on LGBT demographics is vital for demonstrating the importance of LGBT health concerns and pushing for increased funding for services for the LGBT community.

 This will help us learn more about the health and psycho-social treatment needs of

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people diagnosed with cancer. Contact your Senator today to ask them to sign onto the Whitehouse Letter in the Senate.

 To contact your Senator, please call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121, tell them your state, and ask to speak to your Senator. When you are connected to your Senator’s office, ask for the staff member who works on Health and Human Services appropriations. Tell them that you are a constituent who supports appropriating an additional $2 million for the National Health Interview Survey and that you would like them to sign on. In order to sign on, they need to contact Jordanna Davis in Senator Whitehouse’s office by close of business on Friday,  May 1.