Race and Medical Care

• Across virtually every therapeutic intervention, ranging from high technology procedures to the most elementary forms of diagnostic and treatment interventions, minorities receive fewer procedures and poorer quality medical care than whites.

• These differences persist even after differences in health insurance, SES, stage and severity of disease, co-morbidity, and the type of medical facility are taken into account.

• Moreover, they persist in contexts such as Medicare and the VA Health System, where differences in economic status and insurance coverage are minimized.

• Institute of Medicine, 2002