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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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  • The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies/Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Black Elected Officials on HIV/AIDS

    Poll Finding

    This chartpack highlights results from a survey of the perceptions and attitudes of 550 Black elected officials (BEOs) on HIV/AIDS issues. The survey, a collaborative effort of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Kaiser Family Foundation, interviewed elected officials from 12 states and jurisdictions that have been hard hit by the HIV epidemic. The officials were selected randomly by type of office (federal, state, county, municipal, school board, judiciary). The survey…

  • Indian Health Care in the 21st Century: A Case Study in Disparities

    Report

    The Kaiser Family Foundation, in conjunction with the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the American Public Health Association hosted an event on May 9, 2005 which focused on key Indian health issues, including the availability of mental health services, the adequacy of federal funding, and priorities for Indian health. Agenda (.pdf)Speaker Biographies (.pdf) A webcast of this event is available. The event highlighted research that appears in the May 2005 issue of the American Journal…

  • Addressing Disparities in Health and Health Care — Issues for Reform

    Event

    Marsha Lillie-Blanton, Dr.P.H., Kaiser senior advisor on race, ethnicity and health care, testified before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee about the role of health insurance in reducing disparities in health care and in health status. The testimony is part of an ongoing health reform hearing series. Testimony (.pdf) Slides (.ppt)

  • African American and HIV/AIDS Survey

    Report

    A national random-sample survey of 811 African American adults, 18 years and older, on their knowledge, values and beliefs with respect to HIV and AIDS. It describes the perceptions and attitudes of African Americans, as well as subgroups within the African American community including women, young adults, parents, opinion leaders, and those with less education and lower incomes. News Release Report Download Topline Download Chartpack Download

  • Perceptions of How Race & Ethnic Background Affect Medical Care

    Report

    This document is a summary of the findings from twelve separate focus groups conducted to better understand how race and ethnic background affect medical care. Seven of the focus groups were minority American health care consumers and the other five focus groups were largely white health care professionals and hospital administrators.

  • AIDS… A Crisis Among African-American Youth

    Fact Sheet

    A fact sheet on HIV, how it is transmitted, how to protect yourself against HIV, and information on testing and treatments for HIV. This fact sheet is available as part of a partnership with BET Teen Summit Town Hall specials. Fact Sheet

  • Key Health and Health Care Indicators by Race/Ethnicity and State

    Fact Sheet

    This updated fact sheet shows variations across states and racial and ethnic groups for six key health and health care indicators. It provides a quick glance at disparities in rates of infant mortality and diabetes-related mortality and AIDS cases in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as similar breakdowns showing the percentage of each group in each state that is uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid, and living in poverty. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • The Health Status of African American Men in the United States  

    Fact Sheet

    The Health Status of African American Men in the United States This fact sheet provides an overview of the health of the nation's 17.3 million African American men, including mortality rates, health status, insurance coverage and access to care. It also looks at the population's socioeconomic factors that relate to health status. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • Survey Brief: Views and Experiences with HIV Testing Among African Americans in the U.S.

    Issue Brief

    This survey brief, based on the 2009 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS, examines African Americans' reported views and experiences with HIV testing. The U.S. AIDS epidemic has disproportionately affected African Americans, who account for nearly half of new infections, while representing just 12 percent of the U.S. population. The brief highlights trends and differences among African Americans by age and gender when noteworthy. Survey Brief (.pdf)