Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Race, Ethnicity, and Health
A report from the Urban Institute (also available in Adobe Acrobat and "printer friendly" formats) - " The creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), combined with many states' decisions to expand Medicaid eligibility, increased public coverage of black, white, and Hispanic children between 1997 and 2002. Uninsurance rates fell among children in low-income white, black, and Hispanic families, remained constant among white and black children in higher-income families, and increased among Hispanic children in higher-income families. The health status of children, as reported by their parents, was stable for blacks, whites, and Hispanics, except for a decline in health among higher-income Hispanic children. Over the same period, black and white adults saw increases in public health insurance coverage but not in overall coverage. The uninsurance rate of Hispanic adults increased, despite expanded public coverage of higher-income Hispanic adults."