V. Conclusion
Daryll C. Dykes, Health Injustice and Justice in Health: The Role of Law and Public Policy in Generating, Perpetuating, and Responding to Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Before and after the Affordable Care Act, 41 William Mitchell Law Review 1129-1285 (2015) (493 Footnotes)
For as long as health status and outcomes have been recorded and studied in America, many racial and ethnic minorities have suffered poorer health, inferior access to quality health care, and shorter life expectancies, even when factors such as insurance status and income are controlled. Such health disparities have lingered despite decades of attention, discourse, study, activism, regulation, legislation, and litigation. While health disparities largely result from past and present social, cultural, economic, political, and medical issues, all facets of law--international covenants; federal and state constitutions; federal, state, and local statutes; agency regulations; executive orders; and judicial rulings--have helped shape health injustice as it exists today. More importantly, the law will remain both a formidable hurdle and an indispensable resource in our national drive toward true justice in health: health equity for all Americans. Although substantial challenges remain, passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is a monumental and unprecedented leap toward the goal.
Dr. Dykes is a board-certified orthopaedic spine surgeon, health law scholar, and health policy consultant in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
