Report: Racial inequalities in health care costs USA $50 billion

From PRNewswire:

Racial inequalities in health care access and quality added more than $50 billion a year in direct U.S. health care costs over a four-year period according to a study released Sept. 17 by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

In this study, researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland
found that over 30 percent of direct medical expenditures for African
Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics were excess costs linked to health
inequalities. Between 2003 and 2006, these excess costs were $229.4 billion.

Further, the researchers estimated that the indirect costs of racial
inequalities associated with illness and premature death amounted to more than
a trillion dollars over the same time period. Eliminating these inequalities
would have saved the U.S. economy a grand total of $1.24 trillion dollars. The
study noted that this four-year $1.24 trillion expenditure is more than the
annual gross domestic product of India, the world's 12th largest economy.

"This study shows that society has been paying a steep price in actual dollars
and cents for racial and ethnic health disparities and unequal access to
quality health care," said Ralph B. Everett, President and CEO of the Joint
Center. "It also indicates that eliminating these racial inequalities will
improve both the health status of our fellow citizens as well as our nation's
fiscal health."

"Reducing minority health disparities is a top priority for the Obama
administration, for the Department of Health and Human Services, and for me
personally as Secretary," emphasized The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius. "There's
no single explanation for the disparities outlined in today's report. And
there's no single solution either. But we know that the two biggest
contributors to these disparities are a lack of access to insurance and a lack
of access to care," the Secretary added. "Fixing these problems is a big part
of why this administration is so committed to passing health insurance reform
this year."

Previous studies have established that minority Americans experience poorer
than average health outcomes from cradle to grave. People of color are
significantly more likely to die as infants, have higher rates of chronic
disease and disability, and shorter life spans.

The costs measured in the Joint Center study include those directly associated
with providing care to a sicker and more disadvantaged population, as well as
indirect costs such as lost productivity, lost wages, absenteeism, use of
family leave for avoidable illnesses and lower quality of life. In addition,
the study measured the costs of premature death in the form of forgone wages,
lost tax revenues, additional services and benefits for the families of the
deceased and lower quality of life for survivors.

Copies of the study can be downloaded by going to: www.jointcenter.org.

Copies of the health reform bill assessments, with a focus on implications for
racial and ethnic minorities, can be accessed by going to:
www.jointcenter.org.