The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a press release yesterday detailing some disparities in health care by race, gender, and income. (<www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2011>). The data in the release are taken from the just completed “CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report--United States 2011.” The report contains 22 essays discussing various aspects of American health care.
Some of the figures are not surprising. For example, the researchers found that the rates of preventable hospitalizations increase as income decreases. Eliminating those disparities, according to one estimate, “would prevent approximately one million hospitalizations and save $6.7 billion in health care costs per year. ‘’
We also learn that women are better drivers. In 2007, non-Hispanic white men (21.5 per 100,000 population) were two to three times more likely to die in car crashes than were non-Hispanic white women (8.8 per 100,000). The differences were similar in other race/ethnic groups.
Other data provide stark evidence of the grave inequalities in the American health care system. Babies born to black women are up to three times as likely to die in infancy than babies born to women of other races.
Remember during the health care debate how the Republicans kept saying America had the best health care system in the world? Maybe it does if you are rich and white.
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