Racial disparities persist in Ga.

Women of color in every state, including Georgia, generally lag behind their white counterparts when it comes to health and access to care, according to a report released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The report outlines health disparities in 25 areas, including rates of disease, such as HIV/AIDS and diabetes, insurance coverage, access to physicians, reproductive health and income.

“Disparities exist across all states for basically all measures,” said Cara V. James, lead author of “Putting Women’s Health Care Disparities on the Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level.”

“For many of these indicators, we found women of color had a higher rate of diabetes, health disease, new AIDS cases, obesity and in general were more likely to be in fair or poor health,” James said.

Although Georgia is better than average, severe gaps remain. For example, the number of new AIDS cases among minority women in Georgia is 12 times the rate of new AIDS cases among white women, James said.

Additionally, one in five women of color in Georgia do not receive early prenatal care, compared to 1 in 10 white women.

The differences varied widely in some states. In others, white women and women of color are struggling equally. James hopes the study will help states develop strategies to combat health inequities.

The Kaiser report comes after black, Latino and Asian lawmakers asked President Obama to address the issue of racial and ethnic disparities in health-care reform legislation.

The lawmakers plan to introduce an alternative health care proposal soon that would improve services in low-income areas, eliminate language barriers and improve data collection to help detect gaps in care for various racial and ethnic groups.

Dr. Elizabeth Ofili, a chief of cardiology and associate dean of clinical research at Morehouse School of Medicine, said health disparities —- particularly among women, the chief caregivers —- carries significant consequences for families and communities.

African Americans in Georgia, for example, make up two-thirds of premature deaths —- people who die before the age of 65.

“To me, that is the crux of health-care disparities,” she said. “People dying before they have a chance to live out their lives. It’s also an issue of quality of life.”

Disparities also translate into a higher cost of health care delivery. Women who don’t have access to care typically wait longer to see a doctor, meaning their conditions are likely to worsen and require greater care.

In Georgia, one in four African Americans and one in four Latina had not seen a doctor due to the cost, compared to one in six white women.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.