Black Americans Still Have Worse Health. Here’s Why

By Fred Clasen-Kelly and Renuka Rayasam | KFF Health News | Word In BlackMorris Brown, a primary care physician, says that South Carolina lawmakers’ refusal to expand Medicaid will result in preventable deaths because many people who live near his medical offices in Kingstree and Lake City cannot afford to go to a doctor. (GAVIN MCINTYRE FOR KFF HEALTH NEWS(WIB) – KINGSTREE, S.C. — One morning in late April, a small brick health clinic along the Thurgood Marshall Highway bustled with patients.There was Joshua McCray, 69, a public bus driver who, four years after catching COVID-19, still is too weak to drive.Louvenia McKinney, 77, arrived complaining about shortness of breath.Ponzella McClary brought her 83-year-old mother-in-law, Lula, who has memory issues and had recently taken a fall.Morris Brown, the family practice physician who owns the clinic, rotated through Black patients nearly every 20 minutes. Some struggled to walk. Others pulled oxygen tanks. And most carried three pill bottles or more for various chronic ailments.RELATED:& Diabetes vs. Drug Prices: A System That Can Kill& But Brown called them “lucky,” with enough health insurance or money to see a doctor. The clinic serves patients along the infamous “Corridor of Shame,” a rural stretch...