Journal of the American Medical Association
The Economic Burden of Racial, Ethnic, and Educational Health Inequities in the US
In the May 16, 2023 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Thomas LaVeist from Tulane University and colleagues published a new study on The Economic Burden of Racial, Ethnic, and Educational Health Inequities in the US. This groundbreaking work, funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, provides national and state-level estimates of the economic burden of health disparities by race and ethnicity and educational levels. The authors estimate that in 2018, racial and ethnic health disparities cost to the U.S. economy - driven by increased medical costs, decreased labor productivity, and premature deaths - was $451 billion and the cost of education-related health disparities reached $978 billion. The authors argue that addressing health inequities is both a social justice issue and an economic issue.
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