Having Health Insurance does not Necessarily Mean Equal Outcomes for African American's With Cancer

Race should not enter into our healthcare system. But unfortunately it does. And a recent study found that even among those with health insurance a disparity in medical outcomes exists for African Americans with cancer. In a report published in a recent issue of the journal Cancer, it was concluded that African Americans suffering from Colon Cancer have lower survival rates then Whites, Asians or Hispanics.

According to the director of the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities at the National Cancer Institute, the disparities are based on access to treatments and diagnostic testing. Not surprising among a community that traditionally has lower income and less entrée to affordable health insurance then the majority - however it was also found, while to a lesser degree, even blacks with health insurance still had worse outcomes and higher death rates for colon cancer then their White, Asian or Hispanic counter parts.

The study found that when blacks and whites had the sane treatments they had similar outcomes. But the study could not pinpoint exactly why then, that even when blacks and whites had heath insurance that would cover the same treatments, more often then not blacks failed to get those treatments while whites (and Asians and Hispanics) did. The reasons are complex, and unfortunately the only way to interpret the data is that a racial bias must come into play. To be fair though the doctors conducting the study point out that the bias exists on the parts of both the doctors and the African American patients in the study with health insurance. There is a documented distrust that African Americans have with doctors and the healthcare system, and similarly, doctors will often fail to recommend certain treatments to black patients for fear of non-compliance. There is also a widely held misconception among cancer victims that is especially strong in the African American community that if you do anything to touch or disturb a cancer you will cause it to spread - and this can be another reason why African American patients may forgo life saving treatments, even when they have adequate medical coverage to pay for them.

The results of the study are disturbing for several implications. Specifically since colon cancer is a preventable and treatable disease many lives are being lost that can be saved with screening and treatment - and perhaps the more far reaching implication that even if we had a universal health insurance system in place in this country tomorrow providing health insurance to every American - still may not eliminate disparity in our healthcare system.