Care Disparities Narrowing, But Still Big

A new report issued by the California Health Care Foundation concludes that although some healthcare disparities in the Golden State have narrowed in recent years, wide gaps among minorities persist.

The 46-page report, “Quality of Care: Steps in the Right Direction,” notes that while some healthcare gains have been made among Californians in recent years, African-Americans face some significant disparities in care.

“From birth to death, the quality of healthcare being delivered in California has improved on a number of important measures in recent years. But significant racial and ethnic disparities persist,” read an introduction to the report.

African-Americans, for example, suffered a maternal mortality rate of 27.7 per 100,000 live births in 1999. That number peaked at more than 50 per 100,000 in 2005, but still remains 33.8 per 100,000 as of 2010. By contrast, the mortality rates among other ethnic groups and caucasians is around 10 per 100,000.

African-Americans are also far more likely to suffer asthma while pregnant (19.8% of the population versus 11.8% for whites and around 6% for Latinos and Asian-Americans), as well as be obese (28.8% versus 26.5% for Latinos, 16.8% for whites and 6.8% among Asian-Americans) and suffer from hypertension 14.5%, versus an overall average of 9.2%).

The overall mortality rate among infants born live in California is 4.7 per 1,000 births. Among African-Americans, it's 9.5, and among mixed-race infants, it's 10.3 per 1,000.

African-Americans are also far more likely than other Californians to visit the emergency room to seek treatment for asthma and be diagnosed with Type 2 adult onset diabetes.

But as a whole, Californians are less likely than the rest of the U.S. to have a child with a low birthweight (6.8% versus 8.1% in 2011) and have a pre-term birth (9.8% versus 11.7%). A total of 77.4% of California's children were vaccinated in 2011, compared to the nationwide rate of 73.3%.