The more than 150 million Americans who get their health coverage through work face significant racial and ethnic inequities as they manage complex health conditions, a new study from Morgan Health and NORC at the University of Chicago finds.
Why it’s important: While there is a perception of active health insurance providing strong coverage, researchers have found large gaps in how certain social groups in the plans manage disease. routine, access to care and treatment of behavioral and behavioral problems.
What they found: Black enrollees in employer-sponsored plans were about 17 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than white enrollees, after adjusting for age and sex.
In depth: Economic barriers are also high: 6.9 percent of enrollees reported missing health care due to cost, 9.8 percent skipped prescriptions and 11.9 percent reported difficulty paying medical bills.
The study was based on government surveys and interviews before the outbreak, but the researchers noted that COVID-19 has made past differences worse.
Bottom line: Health disparities are not limited to Medicare, Medicaid or the uninsured population but are among the largest workforce.
