The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit.<\/p>\n
KFF Health News undertook a yearlong examination of how government decisions undermine Black health \u2014 reviewing court and inspection records and government reports, and interviewing dozens of academic researchers, doctors, politicians, community leaders, grieving moms, and patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the past two decades there have been 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans relative to white Americans. That represents a loss of more than 80 million years of life, according to a 2023 JAMA study<\/a>.<\/p>\n The video features senior correspondents Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam, along with Morris Brown, a family care physician in Kingstree, South Carolina.<\/p>\n Learn more about the \u201cSystemic Sickness\u201d series here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n