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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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  • Latinos and HIV/AIDS in the United States

    Other Post

    Capitol Hill Briefing HIV remains a leading cause of death among Latinos in the United States, and Latinos with HIV are less likely than whites to receive early care. The rate of AIDS cases among Latinos is almost four times the rate among whites. In addition, Latinos face many unique hurdles to reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS in their communities. Representative Ciro D. Rodriguez (D-Texas) delivers the opening remarks and Ingrid M. Duran, president and…

  • Survey of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

    Report

    To give voice to people whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing floods, The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a unique survey of evacuees in shelters in the Houston area. The provides information on evacuees' lives before the hurricane and inside Houston area shelters, as well as their plans for the future. The survey also includes a number of health-related questions, including…

  • National Survey of Latinos: Politics and Civic Participation, Toplines

    Poll Finding

    These include topline findings from a comprehensive survey that assesses Latino attitudes in the 2004 election year. The third annual survey of Latinos from the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the new survey examines political issues and the presidential election campaign, the economy, health care, Iraq and immigration. Survey Toplines (.pdf)

  • The Role of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage for Immigrants: A Primer

    Issue Brief

    Access to employer-sponsored health insurance is declining for all families living in the United States, and this problem is especially acute for immigrant families. Employer-sponsored coverage is a particularly important source of insurance for immigrant families since their eligibility for public coverage through Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is restricted. This primer examines the role of employer-based coverage for immigrants and the specific hurdles they face in obtaining this coverage. Issue…

  • 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…

  • Putting Women’s Health Care Disparities On The Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level

    Report

    This Kaiser Family Foundation report documents the persistence of disparities between white women and women of color across the country. It provides a rare and comprehensive state-level look at disparities among women of different races and ethnicities on a broad range of indicators of health and well-being, including rates of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, AIDS and cancer, and access to health insurance and health screenings.

  • National Survey of Latinos: Politics and Civic Participation, Summary and Chartpack

    Poll Finding

    The chartpack and summary of findings from a comprehensive survey that assesses Latino attitudes in the 2004 election year. The third annual survey of Latinos from the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the new survey examines political issues and the presidential election campaign, the economy, health care, Iraq and immigration. Summary and Chartpack (.pdf)