Income-related health disparity and its determinants in New York state: racial/ethnic and geographical comparisons

Using self-assessed health status together with several indicators of individual morbidity and socio-demographic characteristics, we study the quality of health and income related health disparity in five racial/ethnic groups as well as across 17 geographic areas of New York State. The American Indian/Alaskan Natives and Hispanics are found to do the worst, whereas, geographically, the North Country in Upstate New York and Bronx County in Downstate score the worst on both counts. Three major contributing factors to income related health disparity are found to be household income, employment status, and education. However, the contribution of each of these determinants varies significantly among racial/ethnic groups as well as across geographic areas, suggesting targeted public policy initiatives to eliminate health disparity between rich and poor.