Quality of Health Care for African Americans: A Fact Sheet

Numerous studies have documented the relatively poor health and health outcomes of African Americans, reflecting a long history of economic deprivation and barriers to health care. Comprising 12 percent of the U.S. population as of 2000, African Americans' life expectancy is six years shorter than whites at birth, two years shorter at age 65. To provide a current picture of African American health care experiences, The Commonwealth Fund 2001 Health Care Quality Survey included 1,037 Americans identifying themselves as African American or black out of a total sample size of 6,722.