Center on Health Equity & Access

The Center on Health Equity and Access spotlights the latest health equity news, research, and initiatives to reduce health care disparities and improve access to care.

Medicare will negotiate drug prices directly with companies; medical leaders react to the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action; the European Commission (EC) announces deals with Pfizer and select European companies to reserve space to manufacture vaccines for future health emergencies.

Andrew Bolibol, a PhD candidate in Harvard University’s Health Policy Program, highlights trends and gaps in health insurance coverage between LGBT and non-LGBT adults.

Nationwide bans on transition-related health care could have negative implications for the overall health of transgender youth.

Interpreting spirometry with race-specific reference equations led to a lower Lung Allocation Score (LAS) for Black patients and higher LAS among White patients, which could potentially contribute to racially biased allocation of lung transplants.

Three accountable care organizations (ACOs) received recognition for their efforts by the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS), which named them this year’s Leaders in Quality Excellence.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) model may improve patient diagnosis and care among specialized epilepsy centers in underserved areas.

Health disparities likely exist in youth epilepsy but few studies have focused on these disparities.

Black veterans continue to encounter benefits disparities; health workers feel capable of handling future surges after the pandemic; the COVAX initiative aims to redirect remaining vaccine spending

Latina women at risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer are less likely to be referred for genetic counseling and testing.

Matthew Mansh, MD, FAAD, discusses inequities faced by transgender and gender-diverse patient populations.

A panel of experts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting presented the latest research and equity considerations for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in hematological cancers.

New estimates predict that type 2 diabetes prevalence will more than double in the next 30 years, from 529 million people in 2021 to at least 1.3 billion in 2050.

The US federal government is finally updating its standards for reporting data on race and ethnicity – and it’s an urgently needed chance to enable a national overview of crucial data on health inequities

A session chaired by ASCO and ESMO leadership included experts on the latest lung and colorectal cancer screening technologies and persistent disparities in screening access and uptake.

An analysis of Medicaid data from adults in Alabama suggests just more than 50% of patients fail to get ambulatory follow-up care within the recommended 14-day window following a first-time heart failure hospitalization.

Patients who are members of racial minority groups are less likely to be prescribed insomnia medication.

A study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting found practice- and provider-level racial and ethnic inequities in rates of next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated in the community setting.

Technical, economic, and political factors led to notable disparities between high-income and low-and middle-income countries, an international assessment shows.

More geographically and racially diverse population cohorts are needed to determine heritability risk in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRS).

A longer length of hospitalization suggests how racial disparities may affect minority patients with severe respiratory illnesses.

Courtney DiNardo, MD, MSCE, the lead author on a study presented at EHA 2023 evaluating a new therapy for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia, discusses the FDA Fast Track Designation for IO-202 and strategies for raising awareness and improving diversity in clinical trials.

Newly presented data reveal disparities between Black and White patients in both the characteristics of and the decision-making around treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma, respectively.

An abstract at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting showed disparities in lung cancer screening rates in an urban, multiethnic community, and patient navigation increased rates overall.