The Federal Government's Use of Title VI and Medicare to Racially Integrate Hospitals in the United States, 1963 Through 1967

Abstract

Explicit discrimination against minorities existed in the 1960s in hospital patient admissions and physician and nurse staff appointments. With passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with Medicare legislation in 1965, civil rights advocates within the federal government had both a legislative mandate to guarantee equal access to programs funded by the federal government in Title VI and a federal program that affected every hospital in the country in Medicare. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which the Medicare hospital certification program was a major determinant in the racial integration of hospitals throughout the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with individuals involved in hospital and health care policy in the 1950s and 1960s. Other primary resources include archival and personal manuscripts, government documents, newspapers, and periodicals.