A true public health solution to inadequate care--one that seeks to maximize the health of all Americans--would more properly target all underserved populations, irrespective of group membership.

Atrue public health solution to inadequate care would focus resources on improving the quality of care and self-care regardless of race.

Many experts today insist that a patient’s race profoundly affects how the medical-care system deals with him. The notion that physicians are biased against minorities––overtly or subtly––has acquired considerable weight in both academic literature and the popular press. In their new book The Health Disparities Myth (AEI Press, 2006), authors...

The authors of this book conclude that differences in treatment vary by race but not because of it.

I was initially assigned the working title, "Pursuing Equality in Health Care for the Elderly Is Futile." I prefer to think of that particular dead end of health policy as one of listening to the wrong music for too long. Hence, this article revises the title song of the movie, Urban Cowboy, to "Looking for better health [rather than either "love" or "love of equality"] in all the wrong places.

Many experts today insist that race profoundly affects how the medical-care system deals with patients and that a black patient will get inferior care. Is this true?

SallySatel's research indicates that the major causes of health disparities are socioeconomic (e.g., access), health literacy (e.g. general level of education), and attitudes toward health.

Arecent study on health care disparities provides the latest comprehensive summary of what can be measured, if not a practical guide to what we could, or should, do about it.