Racial disparities in the United States health care system are widespread and well documented. Social and economic inequalities between racial minorities and their white counterparts have led to lower life expectancy rates, higher infant mortality rates, and overall poorer health for people of color. As the country's population continues to diversify, these disparities are likely to widen if nothing is done to address them. The Affordable Care Act includes various provisions specifically aimed at reducing inequities for racially and ethnically marginalized groups. These include provisions in the Senate bill and House bill that aim to expand coverage, boost outreach and education programs, establish standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate practices and to diversify the health workforce. The ACA, while not a perfect solution to eliminating health disparities, is an important first step and an unprecedented opportunity to improve health equity in the United States. Provisions to expand Medicaid are at the heart of legislation aimed at eliminating racial inequities. Minorities make up about a third of the population, but account for more than half of the 47 million uninsured people. This reflects the racialized economic structures that prevent many minorities from affording insurance or accessing employer-provided coverage. The ACA attempts to reduce the uninsured rate for low-income individuals and families by expanding Medicaid to adults with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Although this provision helps expand coverage to some of the nation's poorest people, the Supreme Court's decision to leave the choice of extending coverage to the states has a serious impact on the middle of paper.... The quality of life, as well as inequalities in education, employment and housing, all contribute to health gaps. Health care reform, as envisioned in the ACA, should be seen as treating the symptoms of an unequal system, not treating the cause. To speak metaphorically, America has a pre-existing condition of institutional racism. The capitalist structure, political climate and discourse, and notions of imperialism refuse treatment. The Affordable Care Act addresses this disease as a localized rather than a systemic disease, the cause of which is rooted in the hegemonic reproduction of ideological superstructures. Only when health care is treated as a fundamental right rather than an economic commodity and health disparities are recognized within a broader policy context can health reform provide the opportunity to overcoming racial disparities and achieving health equity..