Research highlights health care inequity in Massachusetts

Communities of color most impacted
Health care equity is a moral imperative and a new study reveals that it is a financial one as well.
The economic burden of health inequities experienced by Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian populations in Massachusetts totals $5.9 billion annually, according to research commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in collaboration with the Health Equity Compact.
Mental health was one of the 13 conditions considered in the study. The $5.9 billion total reported includes $1.5 billion associated with avoidable health care spending, $1.4 billion associated with lost labor productivity because of higher rates of poor health, and $3.0 billion is associated with the cost of premature de...