Ta. Waidmann et S. Rajan, Race and ethnic disparities in health care access and utilization: An examination of state variation, MED C RES R, 57, 2000, pp. 55-84
Health disparities among racial and ethnic groups have a long history and c
ontinue to exist in the United Stares. The U.S. government has established
as a goal for the year 2010 the elimination of racial/ethnic health differe
nces in six areas. This article examines disparities in one of those areas:
access to high-quality health care. Several measures of access to and use
of health care services are studied both nationally and in 13 diverse state
s. The authors find that both the magnitude of racial and ethnic disparity
and the reasons behind it depend significantly on the state, the ethnic gro
up, and the type of outcome measure being studied. Such information can be
valuable for state and national policy makers in targeting resources and in
designing effective strategies for the elimination of racial and ethnic di
sparities.