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Racial Equity and Health Policy

Racism, Discrimination and Health

Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity, 2010-2024

This brief examines trends in health coverage by race and ethnicity from 2010 through 2024. Since 2010, there have been large gains in health coverage across racial and ethnic groups but racial and ethnic disparities in coverage persisted. The largest gains occurred after implementation of the ACA coverage expansions in 2014.

In 2024, the overall uninsured rate increased for the first time since 2019 as pandemic-era continuous enrollment in Medicaid came to an end, with significant increases among Hispanic, Black, and White people under age 65. Coverage disparities have persisted over time and, in some cases, widened despite earlier gains under the ACA.

Racial Disparities in Life Expectancy

The Growing Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care and Implications for Disparities

KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination and Health: Views on Racism and Trust in Key U.S. Institutions

Elimination of Federal Diversity Initiatives: Updates and Current Status

the Essentials

  • How Experiencing Racial Discrimination Impacts Health

    This brief highlights research examining mechanisms underlying health outcomes linked to self-reported experiences of racial discrimination, including biological changes, chronic stress, mental health, substance use, pregnancy-related outcomes, and sleep.

  • Timeline: How History Has Shaped Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

    This timeline offers a historical view of significant U.S. federal policies and events spanning the early 1800s to today that have influenced present-day health disparities.

  • Health Policy 101: Chapter on Race, Inequality and Health

    Addressing persistent racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care is important for improving the nation’s health and economic prosperity. KFF explains such disparities and the factors that drive them, examines the actions to address them, and outlines future considerations.

  • Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity

    Racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care remain a persistent challenge in the United States. An updated KFF resource examines how people of color fare compared to White people across 64 measures of health, health care, and social determinants of health.
Interactive Timeline

How History Has Shaped Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: A Timeline of Policies and Events

This interactive timeline explores how history has shaped racial and ethnic health disparities and the lasting effects that persist to this day.

The timeline describes major U.S. federal policies and events since the early 1800s that are linked to present-day health disparities. It also covers policies that impact health coverage and access to care, medicine, and social and economic policies that influence health as well as efforts to tackle inequalities.

Survey of Immigrants

KFF-New York Times Survey: Immigrants Report Rising Fear, Negative Economic and Health Impacts, and Changing Political Views During the First Year of President Trump’s Second Term

The 2025 Survey of Immigrants, a partnership between KFF and The New York Times, takes an in-depth look at the experiences of immigrants during the first year of President Trump’s second term, including their worries related to increased immigration enforcement, their health and economic wellbeing, and the political views and preferences of immigrant voters. The survey paints a portrait of families under strain — where fear of detention and economic instability are negatively impacting immigrants’ health and reshaping immigrant families’ daily lives and views of U.S. political parties.

Read the News Release | Explore The New York Times’ Reporting

Immigrants

Many Lawfully Present Immigrants Will Lose Health Coverage Due to the 2025 Tax and Budget Law

This policy watch outlines the groups of lawfully present immigrants that will lose access to federally funded health coverage due to new restrictions on eligibility in the 2025 tax and budget law.
It also highlights the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) estimates of the number of lawfully present immigrants who will become uninsured due to the provisions, as well as estimated federal savings that will result.
CBO estimates that the law’s restrictions on eligibility will result in 1.4 million lawfully present immigrants becoming uninsured and reduce federal spending by $131 billion by 2034.

Related: Key Facts on Health Coverage of Immigrants

Recent State Actions Related to Immigrants’ Access to Services and Immigration Enforcement

Health Issues for Immigrants in Detention Centers

Policy Bars Many Immigrants from a Broad Range of Federal Health and Social Supports

Role of Immigrants in the Hospital Workforce

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  • Kaiser Family Foundation/National Association of Black Journalists 1998 National Survey on Blacks, Media & Health

    Report

    A national survey of 800 African Americans, plus an additional general population sample of 800 Americans, examining perceptions about the media's coverage of health issues that most concern and impact African Americans. This survey was conducted jointly by the Foundation and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) for presentation at the NABJ's annual conference being held in Washington, DC on Friday, July 31st, 1998. TOPLINE Download CHARTPACK Download NEWS RELEASE Download

  • Today’s Topics In Health Disparities: HHS’ Action Plan to Reduce Health Disparities

    Event Date:
    Event

    Today's Topics in Health Disparities webcast examined the new Department of Health and Human Services’ Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. The program addressed the contents of the strategy and its timeline for implementation as well as its implications for providers. The panelists also discussed how the new strategy relates to other recently released HHS strategies including the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, the National Prevention and Health Promotion…

  • A Look at Federal Health Data Taken Offline

    Policy Watch

    This post looks at federal government databases with key health data that went offline on Jan. 31, 2025, including several related to HIV, some of which had returned by Feb. 2, 2025. It briefly describing the affected databases, which include widely used, large-scale national health surveys, indices, and data dashboards, that inform research, policy making, and media coverage about health care and public health.

  • How Do Health Expenditures Vary Across the Population?

    Issue Brief

    This analysis explores the variation in health spending across the population using 2023 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data. Five percent of the population accounted for nearly half of all health spending in 2023.

  • Impacts of Federal Actions on Extreme Heat and Health

    Issue Brief

    Between 1999 and 2023, the number of heat-related deaths in the U.S. increased by 117%. KFF analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that American Indian or Alaska Native and Black people are at higher risk of experiencing a heat-related death compared to their White counterparts. Estimates suggest that heat events in the U.S result in approximately $1 billion in excess health care costs each year. If left unaddressed, climate…

  • Medicaid and American Indians and Alaska Natives

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides an overview of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, describes the role of the Indian Health Service and Medicaid for this population, and discusses the impact of the Medicaid expansion for this population.

  • Pulling It Together: New Orleans Five Years After the Levees Broke

    Perspective

    President Obama's visit to New Orleans on August 29, five years after Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures nearly destroyed the city, presented an opportunity for him to deliver a message on behalf of us all: The country still cares. It was a timely message. Seven-in-ten residents of New Orleans told us in our recent survey that they believe the rest of the country has forgotten them and the difficulties the city still faces in…

  • Section 1115 Waiver Watch: Medicaid Services for Traditional American Indian and Alaska Native Health Care Practices

    Issue Brief

    In October 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the first ever Section 1115 waiver demonstration amendments that would allow Medicaid and CHIP coverage of traditional health care practices for American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) people in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Oregon. This Waiver Watch reviews disparities in health and health care for AIAN people and summarizes the key features of the approved waivers.