AARP, June 24, 2021, Blacks Hospitalized for COVID-19 Face Higher Odds of Death
Older Black Americans hospitalized for COVID-19 face a greater risk of death than their white counterparts because they disproportionately receive care in facilities with worse outcomes for all, according to a study appearing in JAMA Network Open.
After analyzing the health records of 44,217 Medicare Advantage patients (average age 76) hospitalized with COVID-19 from January through Sept. 21, researchers found that the odds of dying within 30 days of hospitalization (or discharge to hospice care) were 11 percent higher for Black patients than for white patients.
Asch noted a National Community Reinvestment Coalition study that found economic hardships persist in many of the majority Black neighborhoods that experienced “redlining” (systemic denials of home loans) decades earlier.
