The disproportionate harm people of color have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic serves as an “appalling reminder of the deep inequities” of the American health care system and demands congressional remedies, according to a new Senate committee report.
The report cites research showing that Black people are dying from COVID-19 at 3.4 times the rate of white people, when adjusted for age. It notes that COVID-19 accounts for 1 in 5 deaths among Latinos. And American Indian or Alaska Native patients are hospitalized at more than four times the rate of white people, according to the analysis undertaken by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
The report identifies steps Congress can take to address the lopsided harm, including focusing relief spending and pandemic-related public health initiatives on Black, Latino and Native Americans.
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