The United States has made almost no progress toward closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. Some critics argue that the government is often the underlying culprit.
KFF Health News conducted a year-long examination of how government decisions undermine Black health: reviewing court and inspection records and government reports, and interviewing dozens of academic researchers, doctors, politicians, community leaders, grieving mothers and patients.
Over the past two decades there have been 1.63 million excess deaths among black Americans compared to white Americans. That represents a loss of more than 80 million years of life, according to a 2023 JAMA study.
The video features correspondents Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam, along with Morris Brown, a family care physician in Kingstree, South Carolina.
Learn more about the “Systemic Illness” series here.
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