American Indian/Alaska Native

Disparities in health and health care for people of color and underserved groups are longstanding challenges. This brief provides an introduction to what health and health care disparities are, why it is important to address disparities, the status of disparities today, recent federal actions to address disparities, and key issues related to addressing disparities looking ahead.

This analysis examines how people of color fare compared to White people across 64 measures of health, health care, and social determinants of health using the most recent data available from federal surveys and administrative sets as well as the 2023 KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health.

This Health Policy 101 chapter provides an overview of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care and the factors that drive them, including the role of historical events and social and economic factors. It discusses why addressing disparities is important for health and economic prosperity, reviews recent actions to address disparities, and outlines future considerations.

About a third (32%) of the public view racism as a major problem in health care, fewer than say the same about politics (56%), the criminal justice system (54%), and policing (51%), a new KFF report on the public’s views of racism finds. The lower levels of perceived racism in…

This brief provides an overview of diversity in clinical trials, disparities in access to novel drug therapies and other treatments, and the implications for health and health care.

This analysis provides an overview of American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander people and their health coverage as well as the implications for their access to health care.

Recent literature shows that within the U.S., some communities of color have higher risks of heat-related mortality than White people. Consistent with trends in earlier years, between 2018-2021, AIAN people were most likely to die due to heat compared to all other racial and ethnic groups, and Black people had a higher rate of heat-related deaths compared to White people.

Adults of color, noncitizens, and adults with lower educational attainment and incomes are disproportionately employed in occupations with increased climate-related health risks. Moreover, workers in occupations with increased climate-related health risks are more likely to be uninsured, contributing to challenges accessing health care.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. population experienced the most significant two-year decline in life expectancy in roughly a century, according to new research by KFF, with data showing that COVID-19 deaths disproportionately impacted people of color and exacerbating longstanding racial disparities in life expectancy. While overall U.S. life expectancy declined…

This analysis examines trends and racial disparities in life expectancy, leading causes of death by race and ethnicity, and discusses the underlying factors that drive disparities in life expectancy.