Study: Blacks, Hispanics say medical treatment is not equal
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22-U.S. blacks and Hispanics feel they get worse health care than their white compatriots, according to a study published Monday-a feeling supported by scientific evidence.
THE STUDY, published in the journal Health Affairs, finds that blacks and Hispanics are up to three times more likely than whites to feel that minorities receive a lower level of care.
Just one in five whites felt minorities got shortchanged, the survey, done by the Harvard University Forums on Health, Health Affairs, The New America Foundation, and other groups, found.
"The poll findings show a persistent feeling among minorities that the care they are getting is not equal to that of whites," Dr. David Blumenthal, director of Harvard's Interfaculty Program on Health Systems Improvement, said in a statement.
"Inequality in medical access and treatment is a problem for many Americans that can no longer be ignored."
In 2002 the Institute of Medicine reported that members of racial and ethnic minorities are given lower quality health care than whites even when make as much money and carry the same insurance.
The Institute, an independent body that advises Congress and the federal government, suggested that deliberate or unconscious bias by doctors and other health care providers may worsen the problem.
The survey by Lake Snell Perry & Associates involved 806 adults and was weighted to include extra numbers of blacks and Hispanics.
Those surveyed felt that cultural and language barriers were most to blame for the disparities while more than half felt doctors and nurses treat minority patients differently than white patients.
