Importance: Evidence suggests that racial disparities in health outcomes disappear or diminish when Black and White adults in the US live under comparable living conditions; however, whether racial disparities in health care expenditures concomitantly disappear or diminish is unknown.
Objective: To examine whether disparities in health care expenditures are minimized when Black and White US adults live in similar areas of racial composition and economic condition.
Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study used a nationally representative sample of 7062 non-Hispanic Black or White adults who live in 2238 of 2275 US census tracts with a 5% or greater Black population and who participated in the Medical Expenditure Panel Study (MEPS) in 2016. Differences in total health care expenditures and 6 specific categories of health care expenditures were assessed. Two-part regression models compared expenditures between Black and White adults living in the same Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) quintile, a measure of racialized economic segregation. Estimated dollar amount differences in expenditures were calculated. All analyses were weighted to account for the complex sampling design of the MEPS. Data analysis was performed from December 1, 2019, to August 7, 2023.
Exposure: Self-reported non-Hispanic Black or non-Hispanic White race.
Main outcomes and measures: Presence and amount of patient out-of-pocket and insurance payments for annual total health care expenditures; office-based, outpatient, emergency department, inpatient hospital, or dental visits; and prescription medicines. ICE quintile 5 (Q5) reflected tracts that were mostly high income with mostly White individuals, whereas Q1 reflected tracts that were mostly low income with mostly Black individuals.
Results: A total of 7062 MEPS respondents (mean [SD] age, 49 [18] years; 33.1% Black and 66.9% White; 56.1% female and 43.9% male) who lived in census tracts with a 5% or greater Black population in 2016 were studied. In Q5, Black adults had 56% reduced odds of having any health care expenditures (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.27-0.71) compared with White adults, at an estimated $2145 less per year, despite similar health status. Among those in Q5 with any expenditures, Black adults spent 30% less on care (cost ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.56-0.86). In Q3 (most racially and economically integrated), differences in total annual health care spending were minimal ($79 annually; 95% CI, -$1187 to $1345).
Conclusions and relevance: In this cross-sectional study of Black and White adults in the US, health care expenditure disparities diminished or disappeared under conditions of both racial and economic equity and equitable health care access; in areas that were mostly high income and had mostly White residents, Black adults spent substantially less. Results underscore the continuing need to recognize place as a contributor to race-based differences in health care spending.