Study Reveals Disparities in Use of Healthcare Benefits by Race, Class

Vaughn, Melinda (2007) Study Reveals Disparities in Use of Healthcare Benefits by Race, Class. Duke University News and Communications.

Abstract

Minority and lower-income healthcare consumers are less likely to take advantage of mental health and prescription benefits than white and higher-income consumers, according to a study to be published Tuesday by Duke University law professor Barak Richman.

The study, “Insurance Expansions: Do They Hurt Those They Are Designed to Help?” appears in the Sept. 11 edition of the journal Health Affairs. It examines the use of mental health and pharmaceutical benefits by employees who have identical insurance benefits, including equal co-payments.

Richman found that low-income and minority individuals did not utilize these insurance benefits as often as their white and higher-income co-workers. As a result, insurance companies disbursed more healthcare dollars to whites and higher-income individuals, leading to a likely “wealth transfer” from nonwhites to whites and from low-income to high-income individuals, Richman said.

The findings are contrary to the common wisdom that has driven a trend toward healthcare mandates at the state and federal levels, Richman said.