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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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  • Eliminating Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: What are the Options?

    Issue Brief

     Download PDF Racial and ethnic disparities in health care – whether in insurance coverage, access, or quality of care – are one of many factors producing inequalities in health status in the United States.1  Eliminating these disparities is politically sensitive and challenging in part because their causes are intertwined with a contentious history of race relations in America. Nonetheless, assuring greater equity and accountability of the health care system is important to a growing constituency…

  • Characteristics that could count against immigrants in public charge determinations, kff

    Nearly 8 in 10 Immigrants Who Entered the U.S. Without Legal Permanent Resident Status Have At Least One Characteristic That Could Count Against Them under the New “Public Charge” Rule

    News Release

    Seventy-nine percent of noncitizen residents who originally entered the United States without legal permanent resident status have at least one characteristic that could count against them under the Trump Administration’s new “public charge” rule, according to an updated KFF analysis. Such characteristics – including having an income below 125 percent of the federal poverty level or lacking a high school diploma or private health insurance -- could make it harder for immigrants to obtain admission…

  • 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…

  • National Survey of Physicians Part I: Doctors on Disparities in Medical Care

    Other Post

    Selected findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation's forthcoming National Survey of Physicians reveal that most physicians are aware of racial disparities in medical treatment for specific conditions, but they don't believe it is a widespread problem. In sharp contrast, African American physicians disagree with their fellow physicians with nearly eight in ten (77%) believing race and ethnicity impact how people are treated at least somewhat often. Physicians see insurance status as a key determinate of…

  • Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Access to Care Among Children: How Does Medicaid do in Closing the Gaps?

    Other Post

    While Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have become increasingly important sources of health coverage for low-income children in all racial and ethnic groups, the program plays an especially large role for children of color, who are more likely than white children to be low-income. In 2007, Medicaid and CHIP covered nearly one in five white children, but roughly two in five African American and Hispanic children. As policymakers engaged in health reform…

  • 2011 Survey of DC Residents

    Poll Finding

    The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation partnered to conduct a survey examining the opinions of Washington, D.C., residents on a wide range of issues including health care. This survey is the 22nd in a series of surveys dating back to 1995 that have been conducted as part of The Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Project. Toplines (.pdf) Data Note: Black Residents' Views on HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia Read The Washington Post…

  • One Year after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Recovery Has Progressed Slowly in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and Health Care Challenges Remain, Particularly in Mental Health

    News Release

    One year after Hurricanes Irma and Maria made landfall, recovery has progressed slowly and unevenly in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The territories’ health care systems continue to face capacity, infrastructure and financial challenges even as health needs have increased, especially in mental health, according to two new reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The reports, drawing upon interviews with government and health officials from both territories, public documents and data, and an…

  • Hurricane Harvey: The Experiences of Immigrants Living in the Texas Gulf Coast

    Report

    In order to better understand the particular needs of immigrants both in recovering from and preparing for future storms, this analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Episcopal Health Foundation highlights the views and experiences of foreign-born residents who were living in 24 coastal Texas counties hard-hit by Hurricane Harvey. Specifically, the brief explores the financial circumstances of immigrants following the storm, as well as their health care access, social support, and top priorities…

  • KFF Briefing Examines Progress and Remaining Challenges for the Health Care Systems in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Six Months After Hurricanes Irma and Maria

    News Release

    Six months after hurricanes Irma and Maria made landfall across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, local officials described progress but also a long road to full recovery of the U.S. territories’ health care systems, economies and infrastructure during a public briefing Monday at the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Washington D.C. offices. An archived webcast of the 90-minute briefing on the status of the recovery on the islands, with a focus on their health care systems,…