1 in 5 U.S. adults report experiencing discrimination in healthcare system

A new national survey has found that one in five adults in the United States faces discrimination when accessing the healthcare system (Source: “Study: 1 in 5 U.S. adults subjected to race, gender bias in healthcare system,” United Press International, Dec. 15).

According to an analysis published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open, nearly two in five participants in a survey of more than 2,100 people reported they experienced racial and ethnic discrimination when seeking medical care, making it the most common form of bias, the data showed.

More than one in 10 participants reported being discriminated against based on their education or income level when they visited a doctor's office or went to the hospital. And roughly one in 10 reported experiencing bias based on their body weight, were discriminated against based on their gender or experienced age discrimination, according to the researchers.

"Discrimination is not uncommon in healthcare," study co-author Paige Nong, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Michigan, told UPI. "We want our findings to show people who have experienced this kind of discrimination, which is often isolating and difficult to process, that that they are not alone."