A September report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services highlights health differences by race and calls to reduce disparities, but a North Carolina physician argues the push reflects a socialist agenda that should be rejected.
From the Office of Health Equity, the Health Disparities Report uncovers areas in which population groups are more susceptible to problems, particularly historically marginalized populations.
The report highlights six key categories of health disparities among North Carolinians: social drivers of health, access to health care, chronic disease, communicable disease, mental health, and health across the lifespan.
“We must close health gaps among population groups that have existed for far too long,” Gov. Cooper writes in the report.
Aiming to identify and reduce the most significant health disparities in North Carolina, a ratio of disparity is provided that indicates how much more likely an event is to occur in one population. Next to the ratio is a grade that indicates the severity of the health difference. The rate is calculated by comparing each minority group to the white population, which DHHS considers the reference group in the report. Receiving an ‘F’ means significant interventions are needed, while an ‘A’ means there is little or no disparity.
Problematic disparities uncovered among minority groups include poverty rates, high housing costs, low home ownership, higher rates of HIV and other communicable diseases, and behavioral health issues from factors like financial struggles and other hardships.
In the report, Kody Kinsley, Secretary of NCDHHS, says everyone has a role in reducing health disparities and advancing health equity in their own communities. However, not everyone sees the equity-centered approach in the same way.
Dr. Kendall Conger, a physician who spent 12 years at Duke until earlier this year when he was let go for questioning the “science” of racism being considered a health crisis, denounced DHHS’s effort to reduce disparity, alleging that NCDHHS doesn’t seem to like the meritocratic, competitive market.
“The goal of reducing disparity is the wrong goal. It’s to assume that if disparity exists, then healthcare isn’t being done right,” Dr. Kendall Conger reacted to the report. “If they want to talk about disparity, it seems abnormal to make it one-sided – ie, only talking about disparities in minority groups.”
Suicide and drug overdoses are most prevalent among white North Carolinians, but no grades of disparity are given for the group. Asked if there’s a disparity grade for the white population, a DHHS spokesperson said individuals can use the same method to calculate the white group on their own. DHHS did not provide additional comments when asked why a ratio grade is not shown for the population group.
“Not everyone can drive a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari. Most people drive Camrys or Volkswagen bugs and some people ride bikes. Disparity in car ownership is not an indictment on the automobile industry, nor is it their job to structure society so everyone can drive the same kind of car,” Conger added. “The NCDHHS are signaling a socialist agenda which should be rejected. They assume equal outcomes is the goal and that disparity is tantamount to racism. Unequal outcome is not synonymous with racism, competition is.”
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Conger concluded that a competitive market drives innovation and, overall, better healthcare for most people, even if it is unequal.
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