THE STATE OF RACE: AN EXAMINATION OF RACE & STATE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY

This study examines the association between race and public policy. Utilizing publicly available data to conduct a secondary analysis, this study specifically examines state policies concerning Medicaid, the State Children's Insurance, reinsurance, high risk pools, and state-only funded programs to determine the role race plays in the development of state health care coverage efforts. Building on the conceptual framework developed by several authors (Hero and Tolbert 1996; Douglas 2005), this study examines whether the level of state policy implementation of widely supported health care coverage expansions vary based on the presence of high uninsured minority populations. It is the author's intention for this study to add to the sociological examination of societal institutions, namely public policy, reinforces a racial hierarchy in society. Furthermore, the intention is to add to the field of policy studies by filling a void in the research regarding race, health care policy, and policymaking. This study comes forth during a pivotal moment in society as the public dialogue around health care reform reached a pinnacle with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 and implementation and continued debate rages on.