It is generally conceded that there are significant disparities in health and health care based on a person's racial and ethnic background. Infant mortality rates for black babies remain nearly two-and-one-half times higher than for whites. The life expectancy for black men and women remains at nearly one decade fewer years of life compared with their white counterparts. Rates of death attributable to heart disease, stroke, prostate and breast cancer remain much higher in black populations. Diabetes disease rates are more than 30 percent higher among Native Americans and Hispanics than among...