10 Apr National Minority Health Month: Progress Made, Promises Still Owed
National Minority Health Month was officially established by Congress in 2002, to formalize commitment to raising awareness and advancing policy that eliminates health disparities. Access to quality health care should never depend on your skin color, zip code, or the language you speak. Every April, National Minority Health Month serves as a reminder of that enduring fact — and a measure of how many promises to the most vulnerable among us remain unfulfilled.
After decades of advocacy, research, and coalition-building by organizations like the Health Equity Collaborative and our partners across the civil rights, patient advocacy, and multicultural communities, real progress is being made. Coverage gaps are narrowing. More Americans than ever before have access to affordable care and communities of color are being heard in policy discussions that directly shape the future of their health.
The movement produces measurable results. Thanks to landmark legislation and sustained community advocacy, millions of Americans who used to fall through the cracks of our health system now have access to healthcare. The following facts capture some of the real impacts being made:
- The uninsured rate for black Americans has been cut by well over 50%. Between 2010 and 2025, the rate has decreased from 2%to 11.1%
- In 2010, 41%of Latinos were uninsured, accounting for 3% of total uninsured populations. That number has dropped to 23.6% in 2025.
- Racial coverage gaps are shrinking, especially in Medicaid expansion states. The gap in uninsured rates between white and black adults shrank by 51%compared to the 33% reduction seen in non-expansion states.
- The national uninsured rate dropped to 7%in 2023, the lowest level ever recorded.
These numbers are not just statistics — they represent millions of American families who now have the ability to take their child to the doctor, fill prescriptions, and access life-changing treatment for chronic conditions. But for every family now covered, another still falls through the cracks. The progress is real, but so are the promises still owed.
While progress has been strong, our job is far from over. As we celebrate what has been achieved, we must be equally focused on efforts to dismantle the inequities that remain. National Minority Health Month is not just a moment for reflection — it is a launchpad to drive the structural reforms needed to guarantee that every American can gain access to the highest level of health care.
To close the gap, we must focus on the most vulnerable patients: those in minority, low-income, and underserved communities who remain disproportionately exposed to a health system that still too often prioritizes profit over people. The coverage gains of the last decade prove that policy can change lives — but sustaining and expanding that progress requires delivering on two critical, unfinished promises: meaningful hospital price transparency and accountability-driven 340B reform.
Patients cannot make informed decisions about their care when they are unable to see the costs of care. It is imperative that robust enforcement of hospital price transparency requirements, including mandatory public disclosure of billing practices, charity care programs, and medical debt collection policies, are all available to patients in clear, accessible language. This transparency must be paired with strong oversight, regular audits, and strict penalties for non-compliance. When hospitals are held accountable for what they charge, patients — particularly those from underserved communities — gain leverage to make informed decisions about their care.
Congress created the 340B Drug Pricing Program with a clear purpose: to help providers and clinics extend care to serve low-income patients. Yet today, the program has grown far beyond its original scope without corresponding measures to ensure accountability. Participating 340B entities have exploited their charity care status for profit. Providers often pay 50% of a drug’s cost, then bill uninsured and insured patients alike for the full price for medications, pocketing the difference rather than passing those savings onto consumers. Congress must reform the 340B program to require transparency about how discount savings are used, establish clear standards for charity care status and reinvestment, and ensure that the savings are passed to the low-income vulnerable populations that the program was designed to protect.
National Minority Health Month is a time to honor the remarkable strides made toward ensuring all patients have access to quality, cost-effective care, regardless of color or creed. But honoring progress is not the same as fulfilling the promise. The promises still owed — to minority communities, to low-income families, to every American who deserves a health system that puts people before profit — demand action. Increasing hospital price transparency and reforming the 340B program are not just policy priorities; they are the next commitments we must keep.