A new report from the Commonwealth Fund reveals persistent racial disparities in healthcare access, quality, and outcomes across the United States. The 2024 State Health Disparities Report highlights a sharp racial divide in premature deaths, particularly among American Indian and Black populations.
The study assessed data from various racial and ethnic groups across 25 different measures, including healthcare access, quality, service utilization, and health outcomes. Even in states renowned for high-quality healthcare, such as Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Connecticut, people of color often experience significantly inferior care.
Arnav Shah, coauthor of the report, pointed out that in Massachusetts, the Black population had the lowest performance score, driven by disparities in measures like treatable and preventable deaths before age 75. Contributing factors to these disparities include elevated poverty rates, increased pollution and crime levels, limited access to green spaces, and a lack of affordable, quality healthcare options.
The strain on the primary care system is particularly concerning. “This is especially true in many communities with high concentrations of Black and Hispanic people,” Shah noted. He suggested strengthening the primary care system through incentives for medical students to choose primary care, increasing reimbursement rates, and augmenting the workforce with physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
David Radley, another coauthor, emphasized the need for more investment to get providers into communities with the greatest need and ensuring healthcare workers reflect the cultural and language diversity of the communities they serve. Addressing these disparities is both a social and economic imperative, with the National Institutes of Health estimating that race and ethnicity disparities in the United States cost upwards of $400 billion annually.
See “Racial disparities put further strain on primary care” (April 24, 2024)