Achieving Equitable Access

In the past thirty years, the United States has made remarkable progress in reducing barriers in access to health care faced by racial and ethnic minority Americans. Most minority Americans born in the 1950s have vivid memories of "separate and unequal" health facilities. By the 1980s, overt and blatant barriers to care were uncommon. In spite of the progress achieved, recent studies continue to provide evidence that minority Americans experience differential access to health coverage and to some health procedures. To investigate these differentials, contributors to this volume were asked to examine the health care experiences of nonelderly Hispanics and African-Americans within a nationally representative data source: the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey. Through this effort, the authors document the extent to which barriers to access persist and provide insight on possible explanations for variations in access. This volume will provide policymakers, practitioners, and advocates with an objective base of important information to guide decision-making about health care policy.