Healthcare access by disability and race among United States Adults: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2019...

National data on ongoing inequities in healthcare access is crucial for setting priorities and ensuring that all individuals, regardless of disability or race, have access to adequate care.

To examine healthcare access by disability and race in the United States.

Using 2019-2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, multivariable logistic regression assessed the association of disability with healthcare access outcomes (absence of healthcare coverage, absence of healthcare provider, >1 year since last checkup, and forgoing healthcare due to cost).

Among 1,258,919 adults surveyed, most were female (51.0 %) and non-Hispanic (NH) white (61.0 %), and 28.9 % had a disability. Regression analysis indicated that disabled adults were less likely to lack a healthcare provider (OR = 0.89, 95 % CI = 0.86, 0.91) and less likely to have gone without a recent checkup (OR = 0.90; 95 % CI = 0.88, 0.93), but more likely to forgo healthcare due to cost (OR = 2.33, 95 % CI = 2.26, 2.41), than non-disabled adults. There was no difference in healthcare coverage prevalence by disability status (OR = 1.02, 95 % CI = 0.98, 1.06). When further stratifying by race, difficulties accessing healthcare were most prevalent among those who identified as Hispanic and disabled across all measures.

Individuals with disabilities, especially those from racial or ethnic minorities, encounter greater barriers to accessing healthcare.