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Inequities in Health and Health Care in Black and Latinx/Hispanic Communities: 23 Charts

People wear face masks as they walk at a shopping district in Miami Beach, Florida.

People wear face masks as they walk at a shopping district in Miami Beach, Florida, on February 3, 2021. Financial barriers to health care are higher for Black and Latinx/Hispanic adults than for white adults in states that have not expanded Medicaid, including Florida. Photo: Chandan Khanna/Getty Images

People wear face masks as they walk at a shopping district in Miami Beach, Florida, on February 3, 2021. Financial barriers to health care are higher for Black and Latinx/Hispanic adults than for white adults in states that have not expanded Medicaid, including Florida. Photo: Chandan Khanna/Getty Images

Toplines
  • Although COVID-19 has exacerbated racial and ethnic health inequities, these disparities are far from new: they stem from a long history of structural racism in American policies

  • Coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act have helped Black and Latinx adults gain health coverage, but additional reforms are needed to combat the racism entrenched in U.S. health care

Toplines
  • Although COVID-19 has exacerbated racial and ethnic health inequities, these disparities are far from new: they stem from a long history of structural racism in American policies

  • Coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act have helped Black and Latinx adults gain health coverage, but additional reforms are needed to combat the racism entrenched in U.S. health care

COVID-19 has devastated Black and Latinx/Hispanic communities in the United States during the past year, erasing recent life expectancy gains and reinforcing racism as a potent, structural driver of health and human inequity.

The health disparities contributing to this burden are long-standing. They reach well beyond the pandemic and have left many communities of color with historically worse outcomes. This chartbook details inequities between white, Black, and Latinx/Hispanic communities across a range of health indicators in four main areas:

  • insurance coverage and access to care
  • receipt of health services
  • health status
  • mortality.

Explore the chartbook

Publication Details

Date

Contact

Jesse C. Baumgartner, Former Senior Research Associate, Health Care Coverage and Access & Tracking Health System Performance, The Commonwealth Fund

Citation

Jesse C. Baumgartner et al., Inequities in Health and Health Care in Black and Latinx/Hispanic Communities: 23 Charts (Commonwealth Fund, June 2021). https://doi.org/10.26099/apmm-x541