Latest California Healthline Stories
Hit Hard by Opioid Crisis, Black Patients Further Hurt by Barriers to Care
The rate of overdose deaths from opioids has grown significantly among Black people. Yet, even after a nonfatal overdose, this group is half as likely to be referred to or get treatment compared with white people. Advocates and researchers cite implicit bias, insurance denials, and other systemic issues.
‘Waiting List to Nowhere’: Homelessness Surveys Trap Black Men on the Streets
Homelessness experts and community leaders say vulnerability questionnaires have worsened racial disparities among the unhoused by systematically placing white people in front of the line ahead of Black people. Now places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Austin, Texas, are developing alternative surveys to reduce bias.
Trash Incinerators Disproportionately Harm Black and Hispanic People
Across the country, trash incinerators disproportionately overburden majority-Black and -Hispanic communities. Though the number of incinerators has declined nationwide since the 1980s, Florida offers financial incentives to waste management companies that expand existing facilities or build new ones.
Watch: Why the US Has Made Little Progress Improving Black Americans’ Health
KFF Health News senior correspondents Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam discuss how government decisions undermine Black health.
Black Americans Still Suffer Worse Health. Here’s Why There’s So Little Progress.
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.
A Teen’s Murder, Mold in the Walls: Unfulfilled Promises Haunt Public Housing
For years, federal lawmakers have failed to deliver the money needed to fix derelict public housing, leaving tenants — mostly people of color and families with low incomes — living with mold and gun violence that has had lasting health consequences.