HARTFORD - Black children are nearly three times more likely to die as infants than whites in Connecticut according to a recent report, and health and wellness disparities between the races continue into later years.

The state NAACP, which authored the study, gathered with religious leaders and lawmakers at the state Capitol Wednesday to advocate for health care reforms.

"How can the richest state in the U.S. be in the top 10" in health care "for the majority population and be 26th in infant mortality for African American children?" asked James Rawlings, chairman of the NAACP's health committee and executive director of community health at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The health care system is broken, not only in terms of access but in the way minorities are treated when they seek care, said the Rev. Shelley D.B. Copeland, executive director of the Capital Region Conference of Churches.