racial disparities in health care

A photo of Gov. Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley

Health & Safety

Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina could help narrow racial disparities in health care

4:48pm November 30, 2023

Medicaid expansion could help bring health coverage to an estimated 600,000 people in North Carolina. Experts say it could also reduce racial disparities in access to care.

Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2006 and underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass. When she started experiencing symptoms again in 2020, she was unable to get an appointment with a gynecologist. Her experience was n

A 'staggering' number of people couldn't get care during the pandemic, poll finds

3:31pm August 08, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Insured or not, one in five said they couldn't get treated for serious illness, while preventive and elective procedures were neglected. Disruptions in care hit Black and Native Americans the hardest.

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A new report from the Black Coalition Against COVID highlights the racial disparities and health inequities Black Americans continue to face in the pandemic.

Health & Safety

COVID disparities persist for Black Americans. But there are lessons for the future

2:39pm March 30, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

The Black Coalition Against COVID released a report two years into the pandemic as hospitalization rates for Black people with COVID-19 in the U.S. were the highest they've ever been.

Generally, more education leads to longer and healthier lives — unless you are a Black man in America. Among the contributing factors is the isolation Black men often feel as they rise economically, says Thomas LaVeist, a sociologist and dean of the sch

Health & Safety

Education Usually Improves Health. But Racism Sabotages Benefits For Black Men

3:46pm May 18, 2021

by Virginia Anderson

For most people, more education leads to healthier and longer lives. Not so for Black men. Racism's power in harming their health may be more persistent than previously understood, researchers say.

As a researcher at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Alice Mukora says she understands the need to enroll diverse populations in Alzheimer's research. But that would be more likely to happen, she notes, if people of color had better experi

Health & Safety

'Providers Don't Even Listen': Barriers To Alzheimer's Care When You're Not White

7:26am March 02, 2021

by Jon Hamilton

Nonwhite Americans looking for care for a loved one are much more likely than whites to encounter discrimination, language barriers, and providers who lack cultural competence, a new report finds.

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Health & Safety

Few COVID Vaccination Clinics Are Placed In Hardest-Hit Communities

8:01am February 06, 2021

by Shalina Chatlani

An NPR analysis of finds that U.S. distribution sites are more common in whiter areas, despite the pandemic's disproportionate impact on Blacks and Latinos.

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Maria Arechiga, an ICU charge nurse, monitors the progress of two COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles.

'The Separate and Unequal Health System' Highlighted By COVID-19

6:57am January 22, 2021

by Leila Fadel

A South Los Angeles hospital has long provided for an underserved community where private insurance is scarce and chronic illnesses can flourish. And then came a devastating coronavirus surge.

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U.S. pandemic response needs a fresh lens: equity.

OPINION: To Solve The Pandemic, Biden Must Focus On Equity

9:11am November 13, 2020

Doctors who helped stop Ebola call on Joe Biden's transition team to address COVID-19's racial and economic inequities. The evidence shows a safety net under the most vulnerable protects us all.

NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center in north Minneapolis started as part of a 14-city pilot program funded by President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. It's the only one of those health and social services clinics still in business.

Health & Safety

How A Minneapolis Clinic Is Narrowing Racial Gaps In Health

4:56pm November 11, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

For five decades, NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center has confronted the ways disparities can hurt its patients' health. Community leaders say it's a model for cities facing similar struggles.

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A man waits to cross the street in the largely Latino neighborhood of East Los Angeles on Aug. 7. California has implemented a new health equity metric to help address the outsize effect of coronavirus on the state's communities of color.

To Tackle Racial Disparities In COVID-19, California Enacts New Metric For Reopening

6:24pm October 06, 2020

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health secretary, discusses a new health equity metric that requires larger counties to reduce coronavirus rates in minority communities before businesses can reopen.

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