Ending Unequal Treatment: Strategies to Achieve Equitable Health Care and Optimal Health for All

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine documents how the U.S. has made little progress in advancing healthcare equity over the past two decades, and racial and ethnic inequities remain a fundamental flaw of the nation’s healthcare system. The U.S. healthcare system is highly influenced by societal factors, and delivers different outcomes for different populations by its very design. The system’s inadequacies disproportionately affect minoritized populations, with stark racial and ethnic inequities in life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality, and many chronic diseases. The report documents evidence of numerous and pervasive inequities in U.S. healthcare.