Health insurance coverage and access to care among Black Americans: recent trends and key challenges
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- ASPE issue brief
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Office of Health Policy, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Health Policy, February 22, 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Black or African American -- statistics & numerical data Health Services Accessibility -- statistics & numerical data Health Services Accessibility -- trends Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data Insurance Coverage -- trends United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- In 2020, there were 41.1 million Black Americans who identified as one race and 46.9 million Black Americans who identified as Black or African American in combination with another race or ethnicity accounting for 12.4 percent and 14.2 percent of the total U.S. population, respectively. Since 2010, the number of Black Americans in combination with at least one other race grew 88.7 percent, and the number of Black Americans who identify as one race increased 5.6 percent since 2010. Black Americans are diverse in their racial and ethnic identity and experiences. In 2019, more than half (58.7 percent) of Black Americans in the U.S. lived in the South. The ten states with the largest Black population in 2019 were Texas, Georgia, Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia, and Louisiana. Black Americans on average are younger than the U.S. population as a whole, with more than half (58 percent) being less than 40 years old. The median age of Black Americans in 2019 was 35 years old, six years younger than the total U.S. population’s median age. The number of Black Americans in the U.S. is growing and is expected to increase 34 percent by 2045. There are large disparities in the health status and health outcomes for Black Americans compared to White Americans. Chronic disease burden, morbidity, and mortality are all significantly higher among young adult Black Americans than the U.S. population as a whole. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Black Americans’ life expectancy in 2020 was 3.6 years shorter than non-Latino White Americans. In 2020, the leading causes of death among Black Americans were heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19. With respect to maternal and child health, while Medicaid expansion has in some cases slowed the increase in maternal mortality among Black mothers, maternal and infant mortality among Black mothers and babies remains significantly higher than non-Latino White Americans. Black American infants have a death rate of 10.8 deaths per 1,000 live births - almost twice the national average (5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births). Additionally, Black Americans are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their White counterparts. Experts have argued that these inequities are consequences of multiple socio-economic factors that are largely the result of structural racism. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased availability of affordable coverage options via Medicaid expansion in participating states and Marketplace coverage with premium subsidies. Studies show that the ACA’s coverage expansions narrowed racial and ethnic health disparities in coverage and access to care. Additional coverage expansion efforts implemented during 2021 including a Marketplace Special Enrollment Period and passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) may help reduce health care disparities further. This issue brief analyzes changes in health insurance coverage and examines trends in access to care among Black Americans using data from 2011-2020. This Issue Brief is part of a series of ASPE Issue Briefs examining the change in coverage rates and access to care after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) among different racial and ethnic populations.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (18 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918574081006676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918574081006676