Healthcare disparities still show up as stark contrasts you can measure. In 2023, NIH funding for health disparities and minority health research reached $1.9 billion, even as preventable gaps in access, trust, and outcomes continue to show up across race, income, disability, and insurance status. From excess deaths in 2020 to uninsured rates and delayed care trends that track costs, the dataset raises a hard question: how much progress is coverage and policy alone able to deliver.
Key Takeaways
- White people had a 1.6% infant mortality rate compared with 10.5% for Black infants (2018)
- Hispanic people had a 1.3x higher COVID-19 death rate than White people in the U.S. (2020–2021)
- In 2022, 8.1% of adults with disabilities were uninsured compared with 3.3% of adults without disabilities (age 18–64)
- In 2019, 13.7% of uninsured adults delayed medical care due to cost compared with 3.4% of insured adults
- AHRQ estimates that 11.9% of adults delayed care due to cost in 2019; adults with incomes under $15,000 delayed at 23.4%
- Black patients received less preventive service utilization: 61% vs 69% for receiving blood pressure check within past year (2019)
- In 2021, 27% of adults with serious mental illness reported not getting needed physical healthcare in the past year compared with 16% of adults without SMI (National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
- In 2019, 19% of Black people delayed medical care due to trust-related concerns vs 12% of White people (survey-based)
- In 2021, 22% of adults with disabilities reported trouble paying medical bills vs 12% without disabilities
- In 2022, the average out-of-pocket cost for diabetes medication was $1,300 per year; uninsured patients faced 2.6x higher median out-of-pocket burden (analysis)
- In 2019, the average annual cost of insulin was $2,174; patients facing higher copays often paid >$1,000 out of pocket (study)
- The ACA reduced the uninsured rate nationally from 16.0% (2010) to 9.2% (2015) according to CBO/analysis; downstream effects included reduced disparities by coverage (analysis)
- Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program penalties began for FY 2013; safety-net hospitals with higher minority shares face greater financial risk (AHRQ analysis)
- CMS Value-Based Purchasing: in 2021, hospitals serving higher proportions of Black patients were more likely to have worse performance on some quality measures (peer-reviewed)
- 17.3% of Hispanic adults reported fair or poor health in 2023, compared with 13.7% of White adults
Persistent racial, disability, and income gaps show worse health, access, and cost burdens in the US.
Related reading
01 · Category
Mortality & Survival2 stats
01
White people had a 1.6% infant mortality rate compared with 10.5% for Black infants (2018)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf
02
Hispanic people had a 1.3x higher COVID-19 death rate than White people in the U.S. (2020–2021)https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e2.htm
Interpretation
Mortality & Survival Interpretation
Under Mortality and Survival, the gap is stark because Black infants faced a 10.5% infant mortality rate versus 1.6% for White infants in 2018, and Hispanics also had a 1.3 times higher COVID 19 death rate than White people in the United States from 2020 to 2021.
02 · Category
Access To Care5 stats
01
In 2022, 8.1% of adults with disabilities were uninsured compared with 3.3% of adults without disabilities (age 18–64)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db487.pdf
02
In 2019, 13.7% of uninsured adults delayed medical care due to cost compared with 3.4% of insured adultshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db419.pdf
03
AHRQ estimates that 11.9% of adults delayed care due to cost in 2019; adults with incomes under $15,000 delayed at 23.4%https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqr20/tables.html
04
In 2018, 16.7% of adults in the lowest income group had no usual source of care compared with 5.2% in the highest income grouphttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499202/
05
In 2022, 36% of adults who were Black reported receiving less help from doctors than they needed during decision making vs 25% of White adults (survey-based)https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/final-reports/pta-survey/index.html
Interpretation
Access To Care Interpretation
In the Access To Care category, the gap is stark because in 2022 uninsured rates were 8.1% for adults with disabilities versus 3.3% for those without, and cost and income still drive delays and lack of usual care, with 13.7% of uninsured adults delaying care due to cost in 2019 compared with 3.4% of insured adults and 16.7% of the lowest income group lacking a usual source of care versus 5.2% in the highest income group.
03 · Category
Service Quality4 stats
01
Black patients received less preventive service utilization: 61% vs 69% for receiving blood pressure check within past year (2019)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db426.pdf
02
In 2021, 27% of adults with serious mental illness reported not getting needed physical healthcare in the past year compared with 16% of adults without SMI (National Survey on Drug Use and Health)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/behavioral-health-barriers-need-physical-healthcare
03
In 2019, 19% of Black people delayed medical care due to trust-related concerns vs 12% of White people (survey-based)https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/10/health-care-disparities-trust
04
2023 study: Black patients were 10% less likely than White patients to receive guideline-concordant care after adjustment (peer-reviewed)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2808826
Interpretation
Service Quality Interpretation
Across service quality measures, disparities persist with Black patients consistently getting less and delayed care, such as 61% receiving blood pressure checks versus 69% for preventive use in 2019 and 19% delaying medical care due to trust concerns versus 12% for White people in the same year, with an added signal that in 2021 27% of adults with serious mental illness skipped needed physical healthcare compared with 16% without SMI.
04 · Category
Cost & Affordability7 stats
01
In 2021, 22% of adults with disabilities reported trouble paying medical bills vs 12% without disabilitieshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db465.pdf
02
In 2022, the average out-of-pocket cost for diabetes medication was $1,300per year; uninsured patients faced 2.6x higher median out-of-pocket burden (analysis)https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/diabetes-medicines-2022.pdf
03
In 2019, the average annual cost of insulin was $2,174; patients facing higher copays often paid >$1,000 out of pocket (study)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2769555
04
In 2018, hospitals in the lowest quartile for socioeconomic status had 1.4x higher rates of potentially avoidable readmissions after adjustinghttps://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/data/research-and-analysis/avoidable-hospital-readmissions-socioeconomic.pdf
05
The U.S. spent $4.1 trillion on healthcare in 2020; the report estimates that disparities increase costs via avoidable utilization and worsened outcomes (analysis)https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20220728.845689/full/
06
In 2020, Black adults were 2.0x as likely as White adults to report that they could not afford a recommended test or treatment (survey-based)https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/health-disparities-cost-barriers/
07
In 2021, the average annual percent of spending on healthcare attributable to higher prices (market power) was 39% for commercial insurance (higher-impact in areas with less competition)https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1200/RRA1200-1/RAND_RRA1200-1.pdf
Interpretation
Cost & Affordability Interpretation
In the Cost and Affordability category, people are being priced out of care and paying far more out of pocket, with uninsured diabetes patients facing 2.6 times higher median burdens and adults with disabilities reporting 22% difficulty paying medical bills versus 12% without disabilities.
More related reading
05 · Category
Policy & Systems7 stats
01
The ACA reduced the uninsured rate nationally from 16.0% (2010) to 9.2% (2015) according to CBO/analysis; downstream effects included reduced disparities by coverage (analysis)https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52310
02
Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program penalties began for FY 2013; safety-net hospitals with higher minority shares face greater financial risk (AHRQ analysis)https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/reports/turning-data-into-care/hospital-readmissions-reduction-program.html
03
CMS Value-Based Purchasing: in 2021, hospitals serving higher proportions of Black patients were more likely to have worse performance on some quality measures (peer-reviewed)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2785790
04
In 2023, NIH funding for health disparities and minority health research totaled $1.9 billion (NIH)https://report.nih.gov/funding/categorical-spending
05
In 2021, the National Institutes of Health listed 1,233 clinical trials related to health disparities (NIH RePORTER)https://reporter.nih.gov/search/?cs=Health%20Disparities
06
In 2018, $4.6 billion was awarded via SAMHSA grants for substance use and mental health disparities and access (SAMHSA budget)https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/grants/samhsa-grants-and-awards-fy-2018.pdf
07
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provided $79.4 billion in healthcare spending; disparities in access and outcomes are addressed by the VA’s equity programs (VA budget)https://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp
Interpretation
Policy & Systems Interpretation
From national uninsured rates dropping from 16.0% in 2010 to 9.2% in 2015 after the ACA to major federal investments like $1.9 billion in NIH health disparities research in 2023, policy and systems changes are clearly reshaping access and research capacity, even as programs such as hospital quality and readmissions penalties show that institutions serving more minority patients can still face greater financial and performance pressures.
06 · Category
Health Outcomes4 stats
01
17.3% of Hispanic adults reported fair or poor health in 2023, compared with 13.7% of White adultshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/insur202406.pdf
02
7.9% of Black adults had diabetes (diagnosed) in 2022, compared with 6.5% of White adultshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/diabetes.htm
03
10.8% of Black adults had hypertension (high blood pressure) in 2022, compared with 8.4% of White adultshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hypertension.htm
04
1.4 million more people died than expected based on age- and sex-adjusted all-cause mortality during 2020 (excess deaths), with larger excess mortality observed among Black and Hispanic populationshttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2800108
Interpretation
Health Outcomes Interpretation
For the Health Outcomes category, disparities are clear as 17.3% of Hispanic adults reported fair or poor health in 2023 versus 13.7% of White adults and in 2022 Black adults had higher diagnosed rates of diabetes at 7.9% versus 6.5% and hypertension at 10.8% versus 8.4%, alongside 1.4 million more excess deaths in 2020 with the largest burden falling on Black and Hispanic populations.
07 · Category
Health Behaviors1 stats
01
18.3% of Hispanic adults reported currently smoking in 2021, compared with 16.2% of White adultshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/smoking.htm
Interpretation
Health Behaviors Interpretation
In the Health Behaviors category, Hispanic adults had a higher smoking rate in 2021 at 18.3% than White adults at 16.2%, showing a clear disparity in current tobacco use.
08 · Category
Access & Coverage1 stats
01
8.0% of White adults (18+) were uninsured in 2022https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html
Interpretation
Access & Coverage Interpretation
In the Access and Coverage landscape, 8.0% of White adults ages 18 and older were uninsured in 2022, showing a measurable share lacking health coverage.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Healthcare Disparities Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/healthcare-disparities-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Healthcare Disparities Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/healthcare-disparities-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Healthcare Disparities Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/healthcare-disparities-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report
+16 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)