Disparities persist despite insurance

Aug 1 2011

A pair of studies highlights how health disparities continue to take shape and unravels some of the factors that are involved in differences in health outcomes.

Reuters: Cancer Disparities Exist Despite Good Insurance
Despite having equal access to health care through military health insurance, black women with breast cancer are less likely than white women to receive certain aggressive treatments, according to the findings of a new study. The researchers, based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Cancer Institute, compared treatments for breast cancer among 2300 white women and nearly 400 black women who had health insurance through the Department of Defense, either as members of the military or as members' beneficiaries (Grens, 7/29). 

The Boston Globe: Researchers Examine Cumulative Health Risks
Now, researchers from Boston University School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Northstar Learning Centers are studying the reasons why, trying to unravel what they believe is a myriad of combining factors — from PCBs and prenatal tobacco exposure for ADHD, to diet and fine particulate matter exposure for high blood pressure — that may be increasing the illness risk for residents. The research is part of a growing effort nationally to study the cumulative impact on health of human activities, including pollution, racial discrimination, malnutrition, poverty, and other factors that may disproportionately harm some communities (Daley, 8/1).