Although healthcare has improved for African Americans and other marginalized people over the years, major disparities still exist. According to the National Academy of Medicine, “racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than white people—even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable.” ¹ Minority groups and those in poverty need more help to get access to affordable quality care.

African Americans and other minorities are living longer than they used to, and most have health insurance, but they still "experience illness and infirmity at extremely high rates and have lower life expectancy than other racial and ethnic groups,"² often due to a lack of health education and the inaccessibility of affordable quality care.

Racial minorities are less likely than white persons to be given appropriate cardiac care, receive kidney dialysis or transplants, and receive the best treatments for stroke, cancer, or AIDS. They're also more likely than Caucasians to die of chronic conditions.³ This may be because of the unavailability of quality healthcare services where they live, but it is also sometimes because of the racism still inherent in the system. People of color are less likely to receive high-quality treatments than Caucasian people, more likely to be discharged earlier, and also more likely to receive less desirable treatments. In other words, implicit racial biases still often control the quality of care people of color receive.¹

Black people are also among the most economically disadvantaged and underinsured groups in the country, with a 9.7% uninsured rate (compared to 5.4% of white people) and an average of 20% of their household incomes spent on healthcare (compared to 11%).³ They often fall into a coverage gap, wherein they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid  but not enough to actually be able to afford their medical bills or quality health insurance.²

African Americans and other minorities are already greatly impacted by racism; they don’t need problems with healthcare access too.  Discrimination, food insecurity, and a lack of affordable housing creates extra stress on the brains and bodies of minorities, impacting their health.² These groups need and deserve access to quality and affordable healthcare.

It’s time to end inequality in healthcare. It’s time to enact legislation to increase access to health insurance, expand Medicaid in key states, cap out-of-pocket costs, and require healthcare providers to give equally high-quality treatment to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income.

1. “Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities in Health Care,” American Bar Association; January 1, 2018.
2. “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans,” The Century Foundation; December 19, 2019.
3. “STUDY: People of Color Face Severe Racial Disparities in American Health Care,” Colorlines; December 19, 2019.