Public Health Experts Warn That Federal Policies Could Widen Racial Health Disparities

According to Stateline, the editorial arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, public health agencies that work with the most vulnerable communities nationwide are sounding the alarm on service gaps and adverse outcomes in the wake of federal policy shifts.

A recent Stateline article highlighted concerns among public-health experts that racial health disparities in the United States may widen as the federal government has begun dismantling programs designed to address inequities. Many grants and offices aimed at supporting health outcomes for communities of color, low-income populations, and rural areas have been terminated or scaled back.

The reductions include thousands of research grants through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and related agencies, and the discontinuation of funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which had been used to mitigate historic gaps in care, environmental burdens and chronic-disease burden among racial and ethnic minorities.

With program capacity shrinking and federal backing waning, state, local, and nonprofit organizations are struggling to fill the vacuum and it’s doubtful they can match the scale of lost support. Experts believe this could mean slower progress or even regression in closing health-outcome gaps across race and place. From the article:

“You’ve got declining capacity, and increasing need — which is a formula for problems,” said Richard Frank, director of the Brookings Institution Center on Health Policy. “It’s impossible to make all that up with state and local dollars,” he continued.

This issue of federal policy impacts on minority communities will also be the subject of a 2025 MACo Winter Conference panel titled, “Federal Policy and Marginalized Communities: County Strategies for Support and Equity.” This session will take place Thursday, December 11, 2025; 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM and feature speakers discussing impacts including civil rights protections, immigration enforcement, LGBTQIA+ communities, and more.

MACo’s Winter Conference, “Local Leadership, Lasting Impact: Shaping What’s Next,” will be held at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Hotel in Cambridge, MD, on December 10-12, 2025.