The recent celebration of Juneteenth made me think about the continuing lack of equity in health care for Black Americans. Black Americans have a higher mortality rate than any other racial or ethnic group.

Structural and systemic inequalities rooted in racism and discrimination such as poverty, income inequality, food insecurity and lack of safe, affordable housing are some of the reasons behind this. Gaps in health insurance and unequal access to care are other factors that lead to poorer health outcomes.

According to KFF, an independent source of health policy research, as of March the average life expectancy of white Americans is 76.4 years and Black Americans is 70.8 years. The 2019 CDC study on infant mortality noted that babies born to Black women in the U.S. had a 10.6% mortality rate vs 4.5% for babies born to white women. Web MD reports that Black Americans are 60% more likely to have diabetes, are 2.5 times more likely to have an amputation, are 5.6 times more likely to suffer from kidney disease, and are more than three times more likely to die of asthma.

One of the ways to address these disparities is to vote for Medicare for All. This would provide health insurance for all Americans with no co-pays or deductibles. Preventive care would be the norm, resulting in healthier Americans. There would be no incentive to not provide care for patients in lower economic areas because doctors would be paid the same whether they practice in a higher income community or a lower income community.

Clinics would be set up based on community needs, not on potential to create wealth. The cost of medications would be negotiated with pharmaceutical companies, like the VA system currently does, which leads to markedly decreased costs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare for all would save $650 billion per year while improving the health of all Americans. Please go to masscare.org for more information.

Michele Craig

Retired nurse, South Deerfield

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