Cost barriers are also greater for minorities, and they have less choice among medical care facilities. Some improvement, however, has been found on some measures. Rates of black women receiving mammograms and Pap tests, for example, have increased. But black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women despite the fact that black women have a lower incidence of breast cancer an indication that they get treatment at later stages. Issues such as routine access to preventive care, cultural competence in providing health care, and proportional representation of minorities in the health professions must also be addressed to eliminate inequities.
Minorities are underrepresented in medical education and in the health care delivery system.
U.S. medical school graduates are black, Hispanic, or Native American, and the percentage of new entrants who are members of these groups is declining at a rate higher than for new entrants who are white.