Racial differences in U.S. health care

Pointing out racial differences is always a touchy are, and health insurance should be no different. Two publications this past week pointed out sharp differences in medical insurance issues between African-Americans and white Americans.

An article in Penn State Live said that African-Americans under age 65 are three times more likely to be covered by Medicare than whites.

Health Affairs Policies Institute reported that “Minorities have, in general, equal or better mental health than white Americans, yet they suffer from disparities in mental health care.”

The differences are likely to be at least partly attributable to income differences between blacks and whites. But what really caught our attention and caused us to reference these publications is that they underscore and confirm the implication of numerous other reports from various source that seem to be saying that the typical uninsured person in America is a young adult middle-class working white person.