Research Shows Various Ways Racial Disparities in Health Care Persist

  • Feb 18, 2022

    While the Affordable Care Act improved health coverage across racial and ethnic groups, nonelderly American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN), Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI), and Black populations remain much less likely than white individuals to have health insurance, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. In addition, the overall rate of cancer screening is lower among people of color compared to their white counterparts, though overall cancer incidence rates declined for all groups between 2013 and 2018. Meanwhile, as of late November 2021, Black and Hispanic people were more than 2.5 times as likely as white people to be hospitalized for COVID-19, accroding to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Finally, a recent Commonwealth Fund report shows that closing the Medicaid coverage gap and extending enhanced marketplace premium subsidies under the Build Back Better Act would significantly improve racial equity in coverage rates, with people of color making up half of those slated to gain coverage. Read more
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  • Jinghong Chen

    Jinghong has been producing infographics and data stories on employer-sponsored insurance, public health insurance programs and prescription drug coverage for AIS Health’s Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits since 2018. She also manages AIS Health’s annual executive compensation database for top insurers and Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates. Before joining AIS Health, she interned at WBEZ, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times Chinese. She graduated from Missouri School of Journalism with a focus on data journalism and international reporting.

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