A third of adults see racism as a major problem in the U.S. health care system.
A large portion of Americans believe racism is a serious problem in U.S. politics, criminal justice, policing, and health care, according to KFF’s 2023 Racism, Discrimination, and Health Survey.
KFF researchers surveyed 6,292 adults, between June 6 and August 14, 2023, online and by phone about their views on racism throughout the U.S. society, including politics, the criminal justice system, policing, education, housing, employment, and health care.
The findings shed light on a serious concern Americans share regarding the prevalence of racism and discrimination across the country.
Here’s a look at the biggest survey takeaways about racism in health care:
- Thirty-two percent said racism is a major problem in health care.
- Black adults were 20 percent more likely than white adults to view racism as a major problem in politics, criminal justice, policing, and health care.
- Democrats were more likely than Republicans to view racism as a major problem across each area of society.
- Adults who have experienced discrimination in their daily lives were more likely to view racism as a major problem. In health care specifically, nearly half (49 percent) of adults who have been treated unfairly or with disrespect by a health care provider said racism is a major problem in health care.
- Of the adults who have not reported personal experiences of unfair treatment, many still said racism is a major problem in health care, including 46 percent of Black adults, 30 percent of Hispanic adults, 33 percent of Asian adults, and 25 percent of white adults.
- While many adults expressed concerns about racism in health care, about seven in 10 said they do trust doctors and other health care providers almost all or most of the time to do what is right for them or their community. However, nearly three in 10 adults said they only trust their provider some of the time or never, with a larger share of those responses from Black adults (32 percent) compared to white adults (27 percent).
- Black adults who said their skin color is very dark or dark (64 percent) were less likely to express trust for health care providers compared to adults who described their skin color as very light or light (75 percent).
- Adults who had health care visits with a provider of the same race or ethnicity were more likely to trust the provider.