Health Disparities News and Research

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Health disparities (also called healthcare inequality in some countries) refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.

France struggling to provide universal care while controlling high costs

Wall Street Journal: "France claims it long ago achieved much of what today's U.S. health-care overhaul is seeking: It covers everyone, and provides what supporters say is high-quality care. But soaring costs are pushing the system into crisis.

7 Aug 2009

Doctors create program to help providers adjust to rural work settings

group of doctors has created a post-doctorate program to provide rural communities with a pipeline of providers, The Iowa Independent reports.

7 Aug 2009

Reform could strain community health centers

While the health care reform debate rages on Capitol Hill, sitting just a mile away is the Walker-Jones Health Center in Northeast Washington, one of about 1,200 federally-qualified community health centers across the country that provide free and reduced-cost care to millions of Americans.

7 Aug 2009

Senators Harkin, Kennedy and Specter honored as champions of health research

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Research!America and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation recognized these three senators for their continued support of research for health, their leadership and shared commitment to making it a high national priority, on Tuesday evening August 4th at the Russell Senate Office Building.

6 Aug 2009

Healthy choices to prevent cancer

In today's troubled economy, saving money is a hot topic. No matter what gets cut from your budget, however, experts at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center believe that healthy choices to prevent cancer shouldn't be on the list.

5 Aug 2009

University of Illinois at Chicago awarded $7.2 million to eliminate health disparities

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been awarded a $7.2 million federal grant to establish the UIC Center of Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities.

4 Aug 2009

Women and minorities under-represented in trials

Enrollment demographics published in many U.S. vascular surgery randomized control trials (RCTs) under-represent women as well as race or ethnic minorities, according to a new study published in the Society for Vascular Surgery’s August 2009 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

4 Aug 2009

Insurance and a medical provider is not enough to improve asthma control

It is widely believed that providing better access to medical care can improve the health of Americans. New research at National Jewish Health indicates, however, that having insurance and a medical provider is not enough to improve asthma control among elementary and middle school students.

3 Aug 2009

Doctor shortage and disparities after reform examined, nurses prepare for changing role

A former Clinton administration official said last week that there aren't enough doctors in America to handle the increase in patients if health reform covers more uninsured, NPR reports.

3 Aug 2009

Race/ethnicity, income and education associated with sugar consumption

The intake of added sugars in the United States is excessive, estimated by the US Department of Agriculture in 1999-2002 as 17% of calories a day. Consuming foods with added sugars displaces nutrient-dense foods in the diet.

2 Aug 2009

Massachusetts to restore immigrant health care, Colorado Medicaid list grows, Obama in North Carolina

Massachusetts lawmakers will vote today to provide $40 million to restore health care coverage for legal immigrants. In Colorado, a 14 percent spike in Medicaid capped a record year for enrollment.

30 Jul 2009

Rates of secondhand smoke exposure high among college students

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is not only a nuisance, but a potential health concern for many college students, and administrators should be taking steps to reduce students' exposure, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

21 Jul 2009

Advocates push to end Medicare's two year wait for disabled

There are 1.8 million disabled Americans who wait two-years to enroll in Medicare. Many say that waiting period can be devastating.

20 Jul 2009

Americans living with no insurance, or less insurance, during recession

Decisions about forgoing care because of the cost for the long-term uninsured have been a way of life, "but for a sizable group, being without a job and insurance is a new, deeply distressing condition," The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

20 Jul 2009

Proposals may limit health insurance choices and squeeze some middle earners

"President Obama and leading Democrats have stressed that people who like their employer-sponsored insurance would be able to keep it, under a health care overhaul. But they haven't emphasized the flip side: That people who don't like their coverage might have to keep it," Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Jul 2009

Blacks have highest rates of obesity

Blacks had 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics had 21 percent higher obesity prevalence compared with whites, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

16 Jul 2009

Obama on health reform: transcript

President Barack Obama spoke today in the Rose Garden on health care reform. The White House released his remarks.

15 Jul 2009

Uninsured account for 20% of U.S. ER visits

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released new data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample -- the largest, all-payer emergency department database in the United States.

15 Jul 2009

Details emerge as House Democrats plan to release health bill

"House Democrats are preparing on Tuesday afternoon to unveil a full draft of their sweeping health care legislation, including an income surtax on the country's highest wage-earners to help pay the 10-year, roughly $1 trillion cost of the measure," the New York Times reports.

15 Jul 2009

Obama announces Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General pick

Dr. Regina Benjamin is President Obama's pick for surgeon general. The Alabama family physician has been an advocate for universal care, and is expected to have a role "at the table" in health reform, which would be an unusual degree of influence over policy for a surgeon general. Obama said Benjamin "represents what's best about health care in America."

15 Jul 2009