The ACA's Impact On Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Health Insurance Coverage And Access To Care

Abstract

Large disparities in health insurance coverage and access to health services have long persisted in the US health care system. We considered how the insurance coverage expansions of the Affordable Care Act have affected disparities related to race and ethnicity. In the years since the law went into effect, insurance coverage has increased significantly for all racial/ethnic groups. Because coverage increased more for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites, disparities in coverage have decreased. Despite these improvements, a large number of adults remain uninsured, and the uninsurance rate among blacks and Hispanics is substantially higher than the rate among whites.

Keywords: Access to care; Affordable Care Act; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; Health disparities; Health policy; Insurance coverage and benefits; Medicaid; Private health insurance; Uninsured; Usual source of care.