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Health Inequities Across Ethnic Groups in the U.S.
Why Race and Ethnicity Still Matter in Health Outcomes
At Heritage Health Network, we know that health disparities can feel invisible—until they’re not. No matter if you’re a healthcare advocate, policymaker, or community member seeking change, this article is here to help you understand where disparities exist and why closing the gap matters more than ever.
Why This Matters
The promise of healthcare in America is rooted in equity—but the reality continues to tell a different story. For millions of people across the country, especially those from Black, Latino, Native American, and other minority communities, health outcomes remain deeply unequal.
According to Ethnic Health America’s national report, preventable conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma are not only more common among people of color—they’re also more deadly. For example, Black Americans are 2.3 times more likely to die from diabetes than White Americans, and Native communities face some of the highest rates of preventable illness in the country. These aren’t just health statistics; they are systemic injustices that reflect unequal access to care, education, resources, and early intervention.
What’s more, the report found that language access, transportation, and cultural stigma continue to keep many individuals from getting the care they need—often until it’s too late.
What You Can Do Right Now
Change starts with awareness, but it cannot stop there. If you’re a provider, policymaker, advocate, or even a neighbor, you have a role to play.
Here’s where to begin:
- Acknowledge the gap: Denial prevents change. Recognize that race and ethnicity still influence access, quality, and outcomes in healthcare.
- Push for culturally competent care: Language, trust, and cultural understanding matter. Advocate for interpreters, diverse providers, and community-based approaches.
- Ask who’s not showing up—and why: Are services being accessed by the people who need them most? If not, what’s in the way?
The reality is, many disparities are preventable. But only if we build systems that see, understand, and actively include the populations they’re meant to serve.
How Heritage Is Helping Close the Gap
At Heritage Health Network, this isn’t just theory—it’s our daily mission. We work with Medi-Cal members across California who face some of the biggest barriers to care: language, housing, chronic illness, trauma, and more.
Through our Enhanced Care Management model, we provide:
- Whole-person support tailored to the member’s cultural, medical, and social needs
- A care team that includes professionals from the same communities we serve
- Navigation across complex systems—from finding housing and transportation to accessing therapy, medication, or food
- Consistent, proactive follow-up to reduce ER visits and hospitalizations
We believe that health equity begins with trust, and we build that trust by showing up—again and again—for the people who’ve been left out or left behind.
The numbers tell a story—but so do the people behind them. No one should be sicker or die younger just because of the color of their skin, the zip code they live in, or the language they speak.
At Heritage, we believe in transforming care by building relationships, removing barriers, and creating new paths forward.