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Racial Equity and Health Policy

Racism, Discrimination and Health

Proposed Changes in the Census Could Impact Efforts to Address Health Disparities

The proposed changes would effectively prohibit the counting of many noncitizen immigrants, including undocumented immigrants and some lawfully present immigrants, and ban the inclusion of questions on race and ethnicity from the decennial census.

Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity, 2010-2024

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

Overview of Health Coverage and Care for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency

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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  • 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…

  • The U.S.-Mexico Border Region Faced a Range of Health Challenges Long Before the Current Immigration Surge

    News Release

    With intense immigration activity at the U.S.-Mexico border this year and attention focused on the plight of newly arriving migrants, a new KFF analysis finds communities along the border faced an array of socioeconomic challenges and weak health infrastructures well before this year’s surge. Texas – which has the most counties along the border and is the only border state that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act – stands out as facing…

  • Health and Health Care in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region

    Issue Brief

    The four states along the U.S.-Mexico border are home to over 78 million people of whom 8 million live in 44 counties that adjoin the border and border activity is at an all-time high. KFF's county-level analysis of the region shows that people living in border states fare worse along socioeconomic and health access measures as compared to the rest of the U.S. and that people who live in border counties within these states, especially…

  • A Fall Update on COVID-19 Cases and Deaths, Vaccinations, and Treatments by Race/Ethnicity

    News Release

    KFF has updated its national analysis of race/ethnicity data of COVID-19 cases and deaths, vaccinations, and treatments as concerns grow over a potential increase in COVID-19 cases during winter and upcoming holiday gatherings and the low take-up of the COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccine among the eligible public. Despite earlier progress narrowing disparities in COVID-19 vaccination, new disparities have emerged in take-up of boosters and treatment. Federal data from earlier this month indicates that, among the…

  • COVID-19 Cases and Deaths, Vaccinations, and Treatments by Race/Ethnicity as of Fall 2022

    Issue Brief

    Over the course of the pandemic, racial disparities in cases and deaths have widened and narrowed. However, overall, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people have borne the heaviest health impacts of the pandemic. While Black and Hispanic people were less likely than their White counterparts to receive a vaccine during the initial phases of the vaccination rollout, these disparities have narrowed over time and reversed for Hispanic people.

  • Health and Health Care for Indigenous People

    Feature

    November marks National Native American Heritage Month, during which the U.S. recognizes the culture, heritage, and contributions of Indigenous people including those from American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island communities.

  • Updated Brief on Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health

    News Release

    An updated KFF issue brief on racial disparities in maternal and infant health includes new and updated analysis of data on pregnancy-related mortality, birth risks and infant mortality. The brief reviews the underlying factors contributing to maternal and infant health racial disparities, ranging from historical and ongoing racism to differences in access to health care and coverage and other social and economic factors that drive health. With recent attention to this issue by federal and state…

  • New theGrio/KFF Survey Project Examines Diverse Views of Black Voters Heading into 2022 Midterm Election

    News Release

    7 in 10 Worry About Voter Suppression Interfering with a Fair and Accurate Count Allen Media Group’s African American-focused news, lifestyle, and entertainment platform theGrio and KFF today released a joint national survey examining the mood and views of Black voters, the only in-depth public survey this election cycle focused exclusively on this group, which has historically been a solid Democratic voting bloc but holds diverse views that often get overlooked in national polling. Coverage…

  • KFF/theGrio Survey of Black Voters

    Report

    This partnership survey with theGrio examines the mood and views of Black voters ahead of the 2022 midterm election, including their motivation to vote, experiences with voter suppression, and key issues including inflation and abortion. With a large sample of Black voters, it includes breakdowns by age, gender, education, and party identification.