Eleanore Catolico New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative
New York State has less severe racial and ethnic health inequities than other mid-Atlantic states, yet even so, a new analysis shows stark disparities for Black residents in access to care, the quality of care they receive and health outcomes.
The report, released last month by the Commonwealth Fund, assessed data based on 25 indicators of health care performance, including outcomes, access to health care and quality and use of health care services by race and ethnicity.
It was designed for health care leaders and state policymakers to identify and address inequities and to create targeted solutions.
New York was among six states found to have better-than-average health care system performance among all racial or ethnic groups.
It received “worse than average” marks in just one category of the nonprofit research firm’s report: health quality for Asian Americans/Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders. This wasn’t an anomaly. Racial disparities were observed in every state, even those with high-scoring health care systems.
“This report demonstrates that if you don’t look under the hood, you won’t identify where you’re failing people and where you’re leaving people behind,” said Dr. Joseph Betancourt, president of the Commonwealth Fund, which seeks a high-performing, equitable health care system and has tracked health and health care in every state for almost two decades.