Race and Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Why an HBCU Med School Decided to Put CARES Act Money Into Students’ Pockets

KFF Health News Original

More than most schools, the country’s historically Black colleges and universities are funneling stimulus money directly to students, wiping out loans and past-due fees. But one is going a step further with its financial assistance.

Deep Roots Help This Chicago Pharmacist Avoid Creating Another Drugstore Desert

KFF Health News Original

Predominantly Black and Hispanic urban areas are more likely than white neighborhoods to see local pharmacies close and are more likely to be pharmacy deserts. In Chicago, one pharmacist is bucking the trend, operating the drugstore his father opened in the 1960s in a Black neighborhood.

Data Science Proved What Pittsburgh’s Black Leaders Knew: Racial Disparities Compound Covid Risk

KFF Health News Original

Inside the Black Equity Coalition’s novel effort to share community health intel and scrape government data to understand — and document — the life-threatening differences between white and Black Pittsburgh.

Black Tech Founders Want to Change the Culture of Health Care, One Click at a Time

KFF Health News Original

Just as Uber Eats and Grubhub revolutionized food delivery, Black tech entrepreneurs want to change the way patients connect with doctors. They are using technology to match people of color with culturally competent professionals and the transportation they need to get to them.

Uninsured in South Would Win Big in Democrats’ Plan, but Hospitals Fear Funding Loss

KFF Health News Original

The latest iteration of President Joe Biden’s social-spending package would close the health insurance gap for at least 2.2 million people, making a huge difference especially in the South, where political opposition has blocked Medicaid expansion.

Montana Tribes Want to Stop Jailing People for Suicide Attempts but Lack a Safer Alternative

KFF Health News Original

The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes are working with academics and policy experts on possible solutions. Their challenge is how to attract the needed mental health personnel to the remote reservation.

Racism a Strong Factor in Black Women’s High Rate of Premature Births, Study Finds

KFF Health News Original

Dr. Paula Braveman, director of UCSF’s Center on Social Disparities in Health, shares her insights on a provocative new study that identifies racism as a decisive factor in the gap in preterm birth rates between Black and white women.

Pandemia revela una creciente crisis de suicidios en comunidades de color

KFF Health News Original

Entrevistas con una docena de investigadores del suicidio, datos recopilados de todos los estados, y una revisión de décadas de investigación revelaron que el suicidio es una crisis creciente para las comunidades de color, que ya estaba impactando antes de la pandemia, y que se ha agravado desde entonces.

With a Diagnosis at Last, Black Women with ADHD Start Healing

KFF Health News Original

Black women and girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often remain undiagnosed because their symptoms are mischaracterized by the blinders of sexism and racism. Getting treatment and finding the right medication can be even more difficult because they aren’t taken seriously or, worse, they’re racially profiled while getting their medicines.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Becerra Urges Congress to Expand Medicare, Address Rx Prices

KFF Health News Original

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is the special guest for this bonus episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” podcast. He and host Julie Rovner discuss a breadth of topics the secretary oversees, including covid-19, prescription drug prices, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.