In the new Health Affairs issue, Racism & Health, several papers provide important background and context for the research findings and policy discussion in the issue.

In one overview paper, Paula Braveman and coauthors explain the path from systemic racism to poor health and provide examples of dismantling racist systems.

They outline how systemic racism harms health by disenfranchising people, obstructing economic resources and opportunities, increasing exposure to health-harming conditions, and limiting access to health-promoting resources and opportunities.

Among their recommended approaches to dismantling racist systems: enforcing antidiscrimination laws; building public support for policies that promote health and well-being for all; and implementing interventions to repair or reduce the damage that systemic racism has caused.

In another overview article, Ruqaiijah Yearby and coauthors explore the racist roots of past and present health policy as it relates to coverage, financing, and quality.

Laws and policies across the various payers—employers, insurance companies, the federal government, and the states—have created a "two-tier health care system that limits racial and ethnic minority populations’ equitable access to high-quality care," they write.

Today in Health Affairs Forefront, Alexandra Carter and coauthors ask: Are we preparing the next generation of public health practitioners to advocate for what is needed to advance health, particularly for groups plagued by structural inequities?

Donald Crane offers a counterpoint to a recent Forefront article and argues that, while neither Medicare Advantage nor direct contracting are without imperfections, it is important to address areas where these programs can be improved without eliminating them.

Elise Lowry and coauthors discuss how a new tool for advocates and state policy makers provides critical information about states’ performance in four domains of action related to health care affordability.

Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil discusses the journal's first issue devoted entirely to the topic of racism and health, offering a few of his own observations related to putting the issue together.

Elevating Voices: Black History Month: In a May 2021 article, Anaeze Offodile and coauthors provide an overview of private equity acquisitions of acute care hospitals from 2003 to 2017.

They find that these acquisitions occurred predominantly in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern US and were more likely to be of hospitals that were for profit; are in urban areas; and have larger bed sizes, more discharges, and more full-time staff.

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About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.

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