The debate over health care reform has taken a particularly worrisome turn. Suddenly we’re in a place where passing something kind of like reform may be more important than getting to reform itself. In the name of "compromise" and in interest of getting something passed, we could get a health reform bill that helps fewer people than originally intended, and preserve more of the status quo than almost anyone wants.
For minorities low income families and individuals, that means more of the kind of disparities — in access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes — that are all too common in our present health care system. The 2008 National Health Care Qualities & Disparities report spells out some of these disparities, including: higher rates of disease, access to care, and lack of routine care and prevention.
