Minority families suffer the consequences of unfair health care treatment

Some parents, especially racial minorities, are treated unfairly when seeking health care, a new report from the Urban Institute found.

“Prior experiences with unfair treatment in health care settings and anticipation of unfair treatment in future encounters could create long-lasting adverse consequences for children and their parents,” the report says. “Changes in the health care system will be required to provide high-quality, respectful, culturally effective and evidence-based care to all children and their parents, including Black parents and parents of color.”

Among the findings:

• 13% of parents, including those with young children, reported they were treated or judged unfairly in health care settings in the past 12 months because of their race or ethnicity, language, health insurance type, weight, income, disability or other characteristics.
• More than 1 in 5 Black parents reported unfair treatment, a rate that was 10 percentage points higher than that of parents who are white, Hispanic/Latino or other races.
• 3% of all parents and 9% of Black parents reported that their children were treated or judged unfairly in health care settings in the past 12 months because of the parent’s or child’s race, ethnicity, country of origin or primary language.
• Nearly three-fourths of those who experienced unfair treatment reported disruptions in their health care. About one-third took steps to express their dissatisfaction with how they were treated.
• 4in 10 Black parents and 30% of Hispanic/Latino parents reported being concerned that they or a family member will be treated or judged unfairly in health care settings in the future because of their or a family member’s race, ethnicity or primary language.

After experiencing unfair treatment in health care, most parents reported delaying or not getting needed care, which could have adverse implications for access to crucial services such as preventive screening and chronic condition management. Parents of children under age 3 were equally likely to report unfair treatment in health care as parents of older children.

“Further research on interventions that can help reduce provider biases and discrimination in health care for parents and their children is needed,” the report concluded. “A better understanding of such interventions and mechanisms for spreading them will be critical to ensuring that parents of color and their children receive the quality care they deserve.”