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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

  • Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity, 2010-2024

    There have been longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in health coverage that contribute to disparities in health. This brief examines trends in health coverage by race and ethnicity from 2010 through 2024 and discusses the implications for such disparities.

  • 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

States Have Enacted or Proposed a Range of Legislation That Will Affect Immigrants’ Access to State-Funded Health Coverage

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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  • Health Issues for Immigrants in Detention Centers

    Issue Brief

    President Trump has prioritized mass deportation and detention of undocumented immigrations. This brief looks at recent trends in detention using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data and health care risks and challenges facing those held in detention facilities.

  • How Has History Shaped Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities?  

    News Release

    KFF’s new 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. The timeline includes 80…

  • During the COVID-19 Pandemic, People of Color Were More Likely to Die at Younger Ages

    News Release

    The Nation Overall Also Experienced Higher Rates of Premature Deaths than Peer Countries During the COVID-19 pandemic, people of color on average died at younger ages than White adults, resulting in substantial racial disparities in premature death and years of life lost, a new analysis finds. The analysis examines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s excess deaths statistics during the pandemic, which captures not only deaths caused by COVID-19 but also higher-than-expected deaths from…

  • Recent Widening of Racial Disparities in U.S. Life Expectancy Was Largely Driven by COVID-19 Mortality

    News Release

    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 by 2.7 years between 2019 and 2021, American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) people experienced a decline of 6.6 years, Hispanic people and Black people…

  • Key Facts on Health Care Use and Costs Among Immigrants

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief draws from the KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants and other KFF analyses to highlight immigrants’ health care eligibility, healthcare use and costs, as well as their contributions to the economy and workforce.

  • A First Look at North Carolina’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots

    Issue Brief

    Medicaid funds typically cannot be used to pay for non-medical interventions that target the social determinants of health. However, in October 2018, CMS approved North Carolina’s Section 1115 waiver which provides financing for a new pilot program, called “Healthy Opportunities Pilots,” to cover evidence-based non-medical services that address specific social needs linked to health/health outcomes. The pilots will address housing instability, transportation insecurity, food insecurity, and interpersonal violence and toxic stress for a limited number…

  • Brief Provides Update on LGBT Coverage and Health as More States Recognize Same-Sex Marriage

    News Release

    An updated issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation gives a detailed profile of health concerns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, offers the latest demographic data, and discusses the impact of recent changes in state and federal policies on health coverage, including the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage. As of this month, same-sex marriage is recognized in 32 states and the District of Columbia. The brief, Health and Access to Care and…

  • State Policies for Expanding Medicaid Coverage of Community Health Worker (CHW) Services

    Issue Brief

    Community Health Workers (CHWs) are frontline workers who have close relationships with the communities they serve, allowing them to better liaise and connect community members to health care systems. States may authorize Medicaid payment for certain CHW services under state plan or Section 1115 demonstration authority. States may allow or require managed care organizations (MCOs) to provide CHW services or include CHWs in care teams. Many states use CHW services to address the health needs…