NAACP warns healthcare AI could widen racial disparities without access fixes

People are turning to AI for health information when they cannot afford a provider, yet millions of Black Americans lack home broadband subscriptions. In a report released November 5, 2026, the NAACP and Sanofi warn that these overlapping barriers could widen health disparities rather than make care more accessible.

The organizations presented “AI Fluency is a Challenge on Both Sides of the Exam Room” at AfroTech Conference 2026 in Houston. It is the third installment of their ACE Your Health StoryMap series, which combines community voices and public health research. The analysis examines barriers to using AI, not just the technology’s growing role in healthcare.

Its findings draw on national datasets, the ACE Your Health initiative and insights from nearly 23,000 community members across 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. That evidence brings together healthcare access, internet connectivity, digital skills and trust—different barriers that the report argues must be addressed together.

Access to AI starts before the health question

The report describes AI entering healthcare through two routes: people seeking information themselves and providers using tools in their work. It cites approximately 50 million health-related questions asked daily through Microsoft Copilot and Bing, alongside a finding that 81% of physicians report using AI. Those figures describe adoption; they do not, by themselves, measure the quality of care.

For some users, the move toward AI reflects a financial barrier to conventional care. According to the report, 19% of people using AI for health information say they could not afford to see a provider. It also finds Black adults significantly more likely than White adults to seek mental health advice from AI.

Physical access remains a separate problem. The report says one in three Americans lives in a healthcare desert. In the Mississippi Delta, it says all 154,000 Black residents live more than 25 miles from a hospital rated four or five stars—a measure tied specifically to those hospital ratings.

Digital access does not automatically fill that gap. Approximately 3.8 million Black Americans live in households without broadband subscriptions, the report estimates. It identifies that shortfall as a barrier to digital health tools and AI-enabled resources, placing connectivity alongside access to clinics and providers in its account of healthcare inequality.

Equity and fairness must be intentionally designed into the future of healthcare AI from the very beginning, not as patchwork fixes.

Dr. Chris T. Pernell, director of the NAACP Center for Health Equity

Trust is another barrier—not proof of harm

Nearly two-thirds of Black adults believe racial bias remains a major problem in healthcare, while one-third expect AI to increase that bias, according to the report. These findings capture beliefs and expectations, rather than demonstrating that AI has already worsened outcomes. The warning is conditional: unresolved gaps could prevent communities from benefiting or could deepen existing disparities.

The proposed response reaches beyond software

The report’s recommendations address the conditions around AI use. Alongside connectivity, the organizations call for AI fluency—skills for understanding and using the technology—and community education. Their proposed actions include:

• Increase broadband adoption to address the connectivity barrier limiting access to digital health resources.
• Build AI fluency and digital skills, alongside stronger community-based health education.
• Advocate for equitable technology policies and invite community members to contribute their voices to the StoryMap.

Sanofi’s head of external engagement and health equity strategy, Tanisha M. Sullivan, also called for pharmaceutical companies to partner with community organizations, providers and policymakers. Her stated goal is to ensure medical and technological innovations reach the people who need them—not only to develop those innovations.