Health-care disparities between whites and minorities -- and particularly African-Americans -- have convinced Highmark Inc. and other health-insurance providers to take corrective action.

Dr. Joseph Betancourt, an international expert in inequities in health care, said at a recent Highmark luncheon that the disparities are more glaring than the general population might suspect.

But a solution would benefit all.

Improving health care for minority groups will reduce health-care costs for government, employers and individuals. But disparities aren't likely to be eliminated anytime soon.

"The problem was not created in three years and it won't be solved in three years," said Dr. Betancourt, director of The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Poverty and too few quality grocery stores, medical facilities and minority doctors and nurses in minority communities contribute to inequities in health care.

"Health-care organizations must assure that they are giving top-quality care to everyone who walks through the door," he said. "We need a commitment from the community that we all are parties in this process, and we need a commitment from government to orchestrate healthy options for people who are not earning a living wage and living in poor environments."

Over the past eight years, cuts in federal funding for community health centers have worsened the problem. But Dr. Betancourt praised President Barack Obama for identifying disparity in health care as a priority problem for his administration to tackle.

"Part of the hope is that health-care reform will provide a structure to increase delivery of care," Dr. Betancourt said.

While the problem is national, local disparities are so extreme that the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has focused its Healthy Black Family Project on disease prevention and lifestyle improvements so African-American families can reduce their reliance on "a broken and misaligned" health-care system that has failed them in the past.

"There are still people who don't think health disparity exists and feel it is a matter of poor choices and ignorance," said Dr. Stephen B. Thomas, director of the Center for Minority Health. "That argument is no longer on the stage, and evidence is overwhelming. We are in a place now where we can act and know how to make sure resources flow to where the problem exists."

Doubters of disparity need only review health studies, which prove that African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities do not receive equal health care, even among those with identical health-insurance coverage.

Disparities exist in access to influenza vaccinations, lung surgeries, renal transplantation, treatment for heart disease, referrals for cardiology specialist care and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

An American Medical Association study in 2008 even found that minorities seeking pain relief at hospital emergency rooms tended to be given less powerful drugs than whites.

Last week, the Journal of the American College of Surgeons connected segregation of African-American and Hispanic communities with decreased access to and use of surgical services, leading to more emergency room visits.

African-Americans are less likely to get kidney transplants, even with comparable health insurance. Those with chest pains are more likely to be sent home, compared to whites, who are more likely to be admitted to the hospital.

Hispanic and Vietnamese women are diagnosed with cervical cancer at twice the rate of white women.

Fifteen percent of African-Americans, 14 percent of Hispanics and 18 percent of Native Americans have diabetes, compared with 8 percent of the white population.

Due to lack of health resources and education, African-Americans experience new HIV infections at seven times the rate of whites, while Hispanics experience new HIV infections at 21/2 times the rate of whites.

Dr. Betancourt said there are too few Hispanic and African-American doctors, dentists and nurses in American health care. As a result, minorities face difficulties in communicating with physicians, while doctors under stress and time constraints can rely on stereotyping to make decisions about care.

For those reasons, 65 percent of Hispanics and 58 percent of African-Americans expect to face unfair treatment from doctors and health-care providers.

Low-income Americans are three times less likely to have a regular doctor or health-care provider compared to people with higher incomes. Almost half of low-income Hispanics lack a regular doctor, states the Web site Healthreform.gov, created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in its publication, "Health Disparities: A Case for Closing the Gap."

Without a regular doctor, patients are more likely end up in the emergency department or in a hospital when ill or injured. "Indeed, African-Americans use the emergency department at twice the rate of whites," the report said.

Highmark and Aetna are two insurance providers addressing the problem head-on by raising awareness, gathering data on health-care quality for minorities, and providing interpreters for patients, Dr. Betancourt said.

For businesses, reducing inequities in care will lower medical claims and costs, reduce absenteeism and reduce turnover.

Dr. Rhonda Moore Johnson, Highmark medical director of Health Equity & Quality Services, said Highmark asks employers to provide data on minorities to pinpoint inequities in care and outcomes. When problems arise, Highmark can intervene with corrective action.

Among other projects, Highmark and Aetna have established advisory committees and provide health education programs in multiple languages. Both require employee training in cultural competency.

Highmark also has put fitness centers in targeted communities and focused on asthma, diabetes and cholesterol management.

The bottom line is this: Disparities in health care reduce productivity while raising absenteeism and medical care costs for employers.

"We are a nonprofit with a social mission to improve care," Dr. Johnson said. "We are focused on the community and will take concerted action in an effort to reduce disparities."