Kansas’ health care system doesn’t work as well for you if you’re Black, research shows

The Rev. Tony Carter Jr. is a longtime advocate for the local Black community, but in recent years, he’s seen his work shift largely toward health advocacy.

Carter said the pandemic, which disproportionately hit Black and brown communities in Wyandotte County, where he lives, spotlighted the disparities in health care.

But long before COVID-19 even existed, he said he has seen racism and inequities in, and a deep distrust of, the health care system among the Black community.

“Oftentimes (Black) people would go seeking care, and they were accused of just trying to get drugs and those sorts of things,” said Carter, the lead pastor of Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, for more than 20 years. “So we always knew there was a racial component.”

New data from the Commonwealth Fund backs up Carter’s claims. In Kansas, the organization’s research shows, health care doesn’t work as well for Black and Hispanic people as it does for white people.

Where Kansas ranks

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that addresses disparities in health care through research and grants. Earlier this month, it released its 2024 State Health Disparities Report.

David Radley, an author of the study, said the purpose of their research was to see if people of color have different experiences than white people in health care.

“And we found that almost always, the answer was ‘yes,’” he said.

When compared with corresponding racial and ethnic groups in other states, health care performance in Kansas scored 32nd out of 51 states (including the District of Columbia) for white Kansans, 23rd out of 31 states for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Native Pacific Kansans, 21st out of 47 for Hispanic people and 30th out of 39 states for Black Kansans.

The study parses rankings into three categories: health outcomes, health care access and health care quality. Subcategories measuring things like the number of children with all recommended vaccines or the number of adults who smoke help measure disparities.

Radley said for the most part, Kansas is “pretty middle of the pack.” The state ranks higher than some of its neighbors, like Missouri, where health care performance for Black residents ranked 37th out of 39 states.

“Kansas isn’t unique in that there are still big disparities in the state,” Radley said. “Health care experiences for white people in Kansas do on average tend to be better than they are for Black and Hispanic people.”

Radley said when the data is broken down, a couple of things about Kansas stand out to him. The first thing has to do with uninsured rates. According to the study, 19% of Black adults and 30% of Hispanic adults in Kansas are uninsured. That number for white Kansans is only 9%.

“Those are pretty big disparities. And those are the kinds of disparities that would likely sort of shrink a little bit if Kansas were to expand its Medicaid program,” Radley said.

Kansas is one of 10 states yet to expand Medicaid. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who has pushed for Medicaid expansion for six legislative sessions, says expansion would provide insurance to 150,000 people. The Republican-controlled Legislature has blocked Kelly’s efforts year after year, arguing the policy would be too expensive.

Another area of concern for Radley is the number of Black Kansans who die before age 75 from treatable causes like appendicitis or certain types of cancer.

“It’s twice as high for Black people than it is for white people in the state,” Radley said, adding that it’s a “key measure” of disparity.

Radley said the study is designed to give health care systems and policymakers a better picture of what needs improving. He said in addition to the expansion of Medicaid, things like beefing up the primary care system, making it more diverse and investing in community health workers would make the system more equitable.

Solving inequalities in health care 

Back at Salem Baptist Church, Carter agrees with Radley. He said expanding Medicaid would have a big impact on equal access to care in the state. He said legislators need more empathy.

“I think we have to have a genuine, sincere effort to make the playing field even, to make things equitable,” he said. “I don’t know if we really have that commitment from our legislators.”

In April 2020, after 44 COVID cases and 5 deaths were linked to a gathering of faith leaders at a church in Kansas City, Kansas, the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force was formed to address racial and ethnic disparities related to the pandemic. Carter was an early member.

Studies show Black and brown Kansans were disproportionately impacted by coronavirus cases and deaths. Carter said that when the pandemic hit, it put a spotlight on health disparities people of color face. But the disparities weren’t new.

“That disparity just has always been there and we talk about it during times of crisis,” Carter said. “Then once the crisis goes away, we go back to business as usual.”

Carter previously was a pastor for eight years in Atchison, Kansas, a rural town about an hour northwest of the metro. He said some of the same health disparities existed there, too.

“It’s probably as pervasive there as it is, even in the urban core,” Carter said.

Carter is still an active member of the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force. He said he and other advocates meet once a month to discuss issues impacting the community and work on the county’s Community Health Improvement Plan. At Salem, Carter said he tries to host monthly health clinics to address problems his community faces.

But in order to solve health disparities in the state, Carter said everyone needs to get involved.

“I think what we’re doing is very laborious. I mean, it’s hard work, but I think it’s necessary work,” Carter said. “While it’s not easy and it doesn’t happen overnight, we keep laboring.”

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

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