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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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  • 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.

  • Puerto Rico: Fast Facts

    Fact Sheet

    Puerto Rico: Fast Facts provides a quick snapshot of the island's demographic, health, and economic characteristics. It also provides some information on federal Medicaid rules, infrastructure, and fiscal challenges ahead.

  • Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos

    Fact Sheet

    Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos provee una descripción general del las características demográficas, y estadísticas de salud y la economía. También se da alguna informacion del gobierno, reglas federales de Medicaid, y asuntos corrientes que estan afectando el territorio, incluyendo a Zika.

  • 8 Preguntas & Respuestas sobre Puerto Rico

    Fact Sheet

    La crisis de $73 mil millones de Puerto Rico ha sido tema de los medios de comunicación nacionales, y de debate en el Congreso en los últimos meses. Además, varios de los principales medios de prensa han reportado sobre una inminente crisis de la atención de salud relacionada con cuestiones demográficas y del financiamiento del cuidado de salud, y exacerbada por la actual situación económica y el aumento de casos de trasmisión del virus del…

  • Coronavirus’ Unequal Economic Toll

    From Drew Altman

    In this column by Drew Altman in Axios, he finds almost half of African Americans and Latinos are struggling to pay their bills because of coronavirus. "This pain would surely be worse without Washington’s relief efforts. Even so, the hardship is real, and that strengthens the case for more aid and better targeting to the families that need it most.”

  • The COVID-19 Outbreak and Food Production Workers: Who is at Risk?

    Issue Brief

    The federal government has deemed workers in the food and agricultural sector part of the essential critical infrastructure workforce. Moreover, under recent a Presidential Executive Order, meat and poultry processing plants must continue operations to prevent disruption in the food supply chain. Workers in these industries face risk for coronavirus exposure due to their continued work outside the home, with many facing increased risks due to close quarters in their working environment. The Centers for…

  • Who are the 3.4 Million People Who Work in the Nation’s Food Production Industries?

    News Release

    Roughly 3.4 million individuals work in food production industries, more than a third of them in animal production and processing where there have been several COVID-19 outbreaks, a new KFF analysis shows. Workers at meat and poultry plants face a higher risk of coronavirus exposure due to the close quarters of their workplaces. The majority of workers in food production – which also include crop production, seafood, and other food manufacturing-- are White and U.S.…

  • Poll: 7 in 10 Black Americans Say They Have Experienced Incidents of Discrimination or Police Mistreatment in Their Lifetime, Including Nearly Half Who Felt Their Lives Were in Danger

    News Release

    Most of the Public Favor a Range of Police Reforms to Curb Excessive Force, though Partisan Gaps Exist on Some Key Proposals Amid nationwide protests against racial bias in law enforcement and beyond, a new KFF poll finds that the vast majority (71%) of Black Americans say they’ve experienced some form of racial discrimination or mistreatment during their lifetimes – including nearly half (48%) who say at one point that they felt their life was…

  • More than 8 in 10 Workers With Spousal Health Benefits Have Access to Same-Sex Spousal Benefits, Analysis Finds

    News Release

    Following two major Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage, a new Kaiser Family Foundation data note finds that in 2016, 84 percent of employees who worked at firms offering spousal health benefits also had access to same-sex spousal benefits. Eight percent did not have access, while another 8 percent worked at firms who reported they had not encountered this benefits issue. The data note draws from responses to the Kaiser/Health Research & Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET)…