Top stories
‘epicenter’ of
coronavirus crisis
made worse by lack of insurance
issue’: Black
Americans are
dying in greater numbers from Covid-19
black communities
to be harder hit by
COVID-19
Black Americans ‘epicenter’ of coronavirus crisis made worse by lack of insurance
Black Americans face historic barriers accessing health care.
“It has been disproportional. They are getting hit very, very hard,” President Trump said at Tuesday’s briefing, referring specifically to the disproportionate sickness and deaths from coronavirus in black communities across the country.
In Chicago, black Americans comprised 71% of COVID-19 deaths despite representing only 30% of the population.
Black people account for 71% of the deaths in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, but are only 26% of the city’s population and account for 70.5% of the deaths in Louisiana despite comprising only 32% of the population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, issued a report today which found that for hospitalizations, “black populations might be disproportionately affected.”
Gezzer Ortega, MD, MPH, instructor at the Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital explained that this disparity has historically always existed in the health care system for minorities and vulnerable populations.
The American health care system in beset with inequalities that have a disproportionate impact on people of color and other marginalized groups. These inequalities contribute to gaps in health insurance coverage, uneven access to services, and poorer health outcomes among certain populations. African Americans bear the brunt of these health care challenges.
African Americans comprise 13.4 percent of the U.S. population.1 Over the span of several decades, namely since the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, they have been able to make notable strides in American society. According to the Economic Policy Institute, educational attainment has greatly increased, with more than 90 percent of African Americans aged 25–29 having graduated from high school.2 College graduation rates have also improved among African Americans. When it comes to income, gains have been made as well, but African Americans are still paid less than white Americans for the same jobs and lag significantly behind when it comes to accumulating wealth. And as for home ownership, just over 40 percent of African Americans own a home—a rate virtually unchanged since 1968.3
African Americans are also living longer, and the majority of them have some form of health insurance coverage. However, African Americans still experience illness and infirmity at extremely high rates and have lower life expectancy than other racial and ethnic groups. They are also one of the most economically disadvantaged demographics in this country.