Structural Discrimination in Emergency Care: How a Sick System Affects Us All.

Drawing on evidence of socioeconomic disparities in emergency care, we show how structural discrimination is the most pervasive driver of these disparities, largely because of an inequitable distribution of healthcare services and unequal benefits derived from scientific advancement. We analyze how the market-based healthcare system in the U.S. has created a scenario in which the allocation of emergency care resources does not match community demand for emergency care, resulting in disproportionately poor access, treatment, and outcomes among historically underserved populations. Without fundamental reform, there is little hope for decreasing the health outcome gaps between the "haves" and "have-nots" in the United States.