Government Report Shows Disparities in Health Care

04/14/2010

Consistent access to medical care may help consumers receive the treatment they need in order to avoid emergency visits down the road.

Factors like race, gender and income level affect the availability of such care, according to a recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The National Healthcare Disparities Report showed that whites frequently received better care than blacks, American Indians or Native Alaskans. Asian-Americans received better care than whites for many of the report's core measures.

Low-income individuals consistently received lower-quality care than their high-income counterparts, according to thre report, while non-Hispanic whites had better care than Hispanics 70 percent of the time. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the report "troubling."

"In 2009, healthcare associated infections increased and minorities were less likely to have insurance and less likely to get the treatments they needed," Sebelius said. "In a reformed system, more Americans will get the care they need, regardless of their race or ethnicity and the quality of care will improve."

A separate report by the agency showed that Americans without health insurance received lower-quality care than their insured counterparts.

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