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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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  • Puerto Rico: Medicaid, Fiscal Issues and the Zika Challenge

    Fact Sheet

    Roughly one in two Puerto Ricans (49%) are enrolled in the island’s Medicaid program. This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicaid program in Puerto Rico and emerging fiscal issues facing its health care system as Zika cases on the island continue to mount.

  • Health and Health Care for Hispanic People

    Feature

    September marks National Hispanic American Heritage Month during which the U.S. recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic people.

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • New KFF Analysis Examines Rapidly Evolving Federal Policies For Substance Use Disorder Treatment for the Opioid Epidemic  

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis finds that 24 percent more buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, was dispensed in 2022 than in 2019, the year before the pandemic brought a surge of opioid overdose deaths – and a focus on how to expand access and treatment. This upward trend in buprenorphine distribution, already in motion before the pandemic, continued throughout the COVID public health crisis, suggesting continued improvements in access to treatment even as…

  • How Recognizing Health Disparities for Black People is Important for Change

    Policy Watch

    Ongoing racism and discrimination, police violence against and killings of Black people, and gun violence also negatively impact health and well-being of Black people. Black people’s repeated and chronic exposure to stressors associated with racism and discrimination drive rapid biological aging and poorer health outcomes.

  • Annual Update of Key Health Data Collection by Race and Ethnicity, Now Including Mental Health Measures

    News Release

    The annual update of KFF’s collection of wide-ranging data on health and health care by race and ethnicity is now available, and this year includes measures on mental health care access, mental illness, substance use disorder, suicide rates, and drug overdose death rates. The handy reference, "Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity," has nearly 50 charts and up to 70 data measures that highlight the scale and scope of disparities…

  • Early Data Show Racial Disparities in Monkeypox Cases

    Policy Watch

    This policy watch examines early data showing that Black and Hispanic people are bearing a disproportionate burden of monkeypox cases and discusses the importance of centering equity in response efforts, including prevention, testing, and treatment.

  • 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…