Racial Health Disparities Take Human and Economic Toll
Despite incredible scientific and medical advances like penicillin and vaccines that protect us from polio, measles, influenza, and now COVID-19, healthcare disparities continue to disproportionately harm minorities and add billions of dollars to the cost of healthcare.
Conditions like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes top a long list of medical conditions disproportionately affecting minority populations, according to Hamilton Health Center CEO Jeannine Peterson. The clinic serves thousands, including a large minority population, who might otherwise have little or no access to healthcare.
These disparities come at a steep price.
Health disparities added nearly $230 billion in direct medical costs, and about $1 trillion in productivity losses, costs associated with early death, and other indirect costs, to the nation’s healthcare bill from 2003-2006, according to a study by
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RUND ABDELFATAH, HOST: Hi, it s Rund. And this week, we wanted to bring you something a little different. It s part of a series called La Brega, and it s a co-production of our friends at WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios.
RAMTIN ARABLOUEI, HOST: La brega is a hard word to translate. In Spanish, it means something like the struggle or the hustle. And the seven episodes look at how la brega has defined so many aspects of life in Puerto Rico, which of course is a distinctly American story.
Has there been an impact on travel to the Caribbean after travelers were required to take a Covid-19 test before they return to the U.S.? What if the traveler never technically left the U.S.?
Cleveland schools contract with DigitalC to put internet antennas on buildings to increase coverage
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
Posted Jan 26, 2021
Chromebooks await distribution in California in April. Cleveland schools are entering into a contract with DigitalC, a local nonprofit, to place internet antennas on school buildings. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)AP
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CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland schools will allow nonprofit DigitalC, which is working to increase internet access in underserved areas of the city, to install antennas on certain school buildings to boost coverage.
The board of education voted unanimously to approve the measure on Tuesday evening. DigitalC and CMSD will enter into a 20-year agreement, with Digital C paying a $10 fee per building annually.