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Racial Equity and Health Policy

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

Role of Immigrants in the Hospital Workforce

Policy Bars Many Immigrants from a Broad Range of Federal Health and Social Supports

Potential Impacts of 2025 Budget Reconciliation on Health Coverage for Immigrant Families

Racism, Discrimination and Health

Physician Workforce Diversity by Race and Ethnicity

Racial and ethnic disparities in health remain persistent in the U.S. of health care services and broader social and economic factors that reflect historical and ongoing racism. One factor that can mitigate such disparities is when physicians and patients share the same racial or ethnic background.

Data show that in the U.S. Hispanic, Black, AIAN, and NHPI people were underrepresented among physicians relative to their share of the population. The widest gap was seen among Hispanic people, who comprised 20% of the total population but only 7% of the physician workforce.

Disappearing Federal Data: Implications for Addressing Health Disparities

State Reported Efforts to Address Health Disparities: A 50 State Review

KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination and Health: Views on Racism and Trust in Key U.S. Institutions

Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them

Survey of Immigrants

A Majority of Lawfully Present Immigrants Are Worried They or a Family Member Could Be Detained or Deported

A new KFF poll finds six in 10 lawfully present immigrants say they worry about the possibility that they or a family member could be detained or deported, contributing to feelings of increased stress, anxiety, and other health problems. A companion report based on focus groups provides a window into how likely undocumented immigrants and their families are faring in the current immigration policy landscape.
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.
the Essentials

  • Disparities in Health and Health Care: 5 Key Questions and Answers

    This brief provides an introduction to what health and health care disparities are, why it is important to address them, what the status of disparities is today, recent federal actions to address disparities, and key issues related to addressing disparities in the future.

  • 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.

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  • Proposed Medicaid Federal Match Penalty for States that Have Expanded Coverage for Immigrants: State-by-State Estimates

    Issue Brief

    This analysis examines the potential impacts of a provision in the House reconciliation bill that proposes reducing the federal matching rate for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion population from 90% to 80% for states that either provide health coverage or financial assistance to purchase health coverage to individuals who are not “a qualified alien.”

  • Recent Changes in Medicaid Financing in Puerto Rico and Other U.S. Territories

    Issue Brief

    The U.S territories – American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) – have faced longstanding fiscal and health challenges exacerbated by recent emergencies. This issue brief provides background on how Medicaid financing differs between U.S. territories and states and what these differences mean for funding as well as health care coverage and access.

  • Quick Takes: Timely insights and analysis from KFF staff

    Race Is a Social Category, Not a Biological One

    Quick Take

    Sen. Angela Alsobrooks questioned [Kennedy] about earlier statements he has made suggesting that Black people should not adhere to the same vaccine schedule as White people because “their immune system is better than ours.” … Race is a poor proxy for genetic ancestry and large genetic studies have demonstrated more variation within defined racial groups (intra-racially) than there are between different racial groups (inter-racially).

  • A Look at Federal Health Data Taken Offline

    Policy Watch

    This post looks at federal government databases with key health data that went offline on Jan. 31, 2025, including several related to HIV, some of which had returned by Feb. 2, 2025. It briefly describing the affected databases, which include widely used, large-scale national health surveys, indices, and data dashboards, that inform research, policy making, and media coverage about health care and public health.

  • 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.

  • Two Studies Draw Different Conclusions on State of Black America

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses how studies with conflicting views of progress and problems for African Americans can both be true, and why African Americans may feel the problems more than the progress.