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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

  • Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity, 2010-2024

    There have been longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in health coverage that contribute to disparities in health. This brief examines trends in health coverage by race and ethnicity from 2010 through 2024 and discusses the implications for such disparities.

  • 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

States Have Enacted or Proposed a Range of Legislation That Will Affect Immigrants’ Access to State-Funded Health Coverage

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.

  • More Than 3 Million People Age 65 or Older Live with School-Age Children, and Could Be at Heightened Risk of COVID-19 Infection if Children Bring the Virus Home from School

    News Release

    About 3.3 million adults age 65 or older live in a household with school-age children, a factor that state and local officials may want to take into account when deciding when and how fully to re-open schools this fall, a new KFF analysis finds. These older adults, who represent roughly six percent of all seniors in the U.S., live with 4.1 million school age children, who comprise about seven percent of all kids ages 5…

  • 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.…

  • Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity

    Issue Brief

    Research demonstrates that improving population health and achieving health equity will require broad approaches that address social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health. This brief provides an overview of the broad factors that influence health and describes efforts to address them, including initiatives within Medicaid.

  • Disparities in Women’s Health

    Other Post

    Disparities in Women's Health Disparities in health and health care continue to burden women, particularly affecting women of color or those who are poor. To shed more light on the factors contributing to inequalities in health and access to care for women, the Kaiser Family Foundation provided support for the newest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association (JAMWA) Disparities in Women's Health. This special issue features an editorial by Surgeon General…

  • COVID-19 Crisis Will Likely Disproportionately Affect the Health and Finances of Communities of Color

    News Release

    The COVID-19 outbreak will likely disproportionately affect communities of color in both their health and their pocketbooks, compounding longstanding racial disparities in health and economic conditions, according to a new KFF analysis. While comprehensive data about how the COVID-19 crisis is unfolding are not yet available, early data from some areas suggest groups of color are experiencing disproportionate health and economic impacts. As of April 6, to cite a few examples: In Illinois, groups of…

  • A Third of the Public View Racism as a Major Problem in Health Care; Larger Shares See Racism as a Major Problem in Politics, Criminal Justice, and Other Areas

    News Release

    About a third (32%) of the public view racism as a major problem in health care, fewer than say the same about politics (56%), the criminal justice system (54%), and policing (51%), a new KFF report on the public’s views of racism finds. The lower levels of perceived racism in health care may reflect high levels of trust in doctors and health care providers across racial and ethnic groups. Overall, Black adults are much more…

  • Children and Oral Health: Assessing Needs, Coverage and Access

    Issue Brief

    This policy brief highlights the prevalence of dental problems among children and examines gaps in oral health coverage and access to dental care, as well as disparities by income and race/ethnicity. It also looks at out-of-pocket costs for dental care, explains the role of Medicaid and CHIP in dental care, coverage and access for children and describes the expansion of oral health coverage for children under the Affordable Care Act. Issue Brief (.pdf)