HHS Secretary to release original report on health disparities

Thompson said at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee that some individuals in the department "took it upon themselves to rewrite" the first annual National Healthcare Disparities Report. HHS released the report in December in what legislators charged was a censored fashion. "A mistake was made and it's going to be rectified," said Thompson.

Eight House members, led by Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., complained to Thompson in January that the report was "yet another example of the administration's manipulation of science to fit its political goals."

A study by Waxman's Government Reform Committee staff found, "HHS substantially altered the conclusions of its scientists on health disparities."

For example, in a June 2003 draft, the report "found 'significant inequality' in health care in the United States, called healthcare disparities 'national problems,' emphasized that these disparities are 'pervasive in our healthcare system,' and found that the disparities carry a significant 'personal and societal price.' The final version of the report, however, contains none of these conclusions."

According to the analysis, the final version of the report eliminated nearly all mention of the word 'disparity,' cutting 28 of 30 references in the 'key findings' section.

An HHS spokesman could not say exactly when the report would be released. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is expected to unveil his health disparities bill later this week.