Racial Equity and Health Policy

Most of the Public Favor a Range of Police Reforms to Curb Excessive Force, though Partisan Gaps Exist on Some Key Proposals Amid nationwide protests against racial bias in law enforcement and beyond, a new KFF poll finds that the vast majority (71%) of Black Americans say they’ve experienced some…

KFF’s Samantha Artiga appeared on the June 4 episode of the Politico Pulse Check podcast to discuss the intersection of the coronavirus pandemic and protests on racial inequality following the death of George Floyd.

Roughly 3.4 million individuals work in food production industries, more than a third of them in animal production and processing where there have been several COVID-19 outbreaks, a new KFF analysis shows. Workers at meat and poultry plants face a higher risk of coronavirus exposure due to the close quarters…

The federal government has deemed workers in the food and agricultural sector part of the essential critical infrastructure workforce. Moreover, under recent a Presidential Executive Order, meat and poultry processing plants must continue operations to prevent disruption in the food supply chain. Workers in these industries face risk for coronavirus exposure due to their continued work outside the home, with many facing increased risks due to close quarters in their working environment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other analysis have identified coronavirus outbreaks in meatpacking facilities. This data note analyzes key characteristics of food production workers to provide insight into who these risks affect and the health and financial implications of the COVID-19 outbreak for these workers and their communities.

Health disparities are symptoms of broader social and economic challenges that are rooted in structural and systemic barriers across sectors. the increased recognition and understanding of disparities could provide a catalyst for the challenging work required to address them.

In this column by Drew Altman in Axios, he finds almost half of African Americans and Latinos are struggling to pay their bills because of coronavirus. “This pain would surely be worse without Washington’s relief efforts. Even so, the hardship is real, and that strengthens the case for more aid and better targeting to the families that need it most.”

AIAN people face disproportionate risks from the COVID-19 outbreak given significant underlying disparities in health, social, and economic factors. Addressing their needs as part of COVID-19 response efforts will be key for preventing further widening of these disparities.

Among non-elderly adults, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black adults are more likely than Whites to be at higher risk of serious illness if infected with the new coronavirus — chiefly due to a higher prevalence of underlying health conditions and longstanding disparities in health care and other socio-economic factors, according…

This date note examines the share of non-elderly adults at higher risk of serious illness if infected with coronavirus by race/ethnicity and household income in 2018.