Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are pervasive and growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that 41.5 percent of the U.S. workforce between 1998 and 2008 will be members of minority groups. With a number of recent scientific studies documenting the existence of racial and ethnic disparities in health care, it is becoming increasingly important for health plans and employers to consider developing strategies for eliminating disparities, which will be essential to maintaining a healthy workforce.

Aetna’s efforts to enhance health services and benefits support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ national initiative to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), compelling evidence exists that ethnic and racial gaps in health care persist and, in some cases, have widened among African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders, when compared to the U.S. population as a whole.

Research indicates that minorities suffer from certain diseases at significantly higher levels than white Americans. In an effort to close this gap, the federal government, under the leadership of HHS, is focusing its efforts on eliminating health status disparities in asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer screening and management, diabetes, childhood and adult immunizations, and infant mortality.

The groundbreaking report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare, released in 2002 by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) showed racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than Caucasians, even when insurance status, income, age and severity of conditions are comparable. The report’s first recommendation for reducing these disparities is to increase awareness of the issue among the public, health care providers, insurance companies and policy makers. It also recommended the standardized collection of data on health care access and utilization by patients’ race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and where possible, primary language.

As employers respond to an increasingly consumer-driven health system, emphasis on cultural competence and assessment of what services are available and how they are delivered to a diverse workforce will become increasingly important.

As one of the nation’s leading provider of health care and group benefits, Aetna will continue to take an active role in finding and implementing solutions and engaging diverse groups to find common paths toward eliminating health disparities.