on safety net, community based, and critical access providers, including federally qualified health centers. (b) New models The rollout of new payment models should include training and additional up front resources for community based and safety net providers to enable them to participate in them. D Health Empowerment Zones 451. Short title This subtitle may be cited as the Health Empowerment Zone Act of 2018 . 452. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Numerous studies and reports, including the 2015 National Healthcare Disparities Report of the Administration on Healthcare Research and Quality and the 2002 Unequal Treatment Report of the Institute of Medicine, document the extensiveness to which health disparities exist across the country. (2) These studies have found that, on average, racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately afflicted with chronic and acute conditions—such as cancer, diabetes, musculoskeletal disease, obesity, and hypertension—and suffer worse health outcomes, worse health status, and higher mortality rates than their White counterparts. (3) Several recent studies also show that health disparities are a function of not only access to health care, but also the social determinants of health—including the environment, the physical structure of communities, nutrition and food options, educational attainment and health literacy, employment, race, ethnicity, immigration status, geography, and language preference—that directly and indirectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of individuals and communities. (4) Integrally involving and fully supporting the communities most affected by health inequities in the assessment, planning, launch, and evaluation of health disparity elimination efforts are among the leading recommendations made to adequately address and ultimately reduce health disparities. (5) Recommendations also include supporting the efforts of community stakeholders from a broad cross section—including, but not limited to local businesses, local departments