Health Disparities in Minority Communities

Jerry Jiang

Fall 2023

Amidst the pandemic, casualty, hospitalization, and infection rates were drastically higher among low-income communities and minority groups. For COVID-19, a virus that has spread and mutated in only such a short time, how has it grown to disproportionately target these vulnerable communities specifically? In a study on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 by Michael Siegal, across 35 states, the average Black to White crude death rate disparity ratio is 1.6. After adjusting for age and state, the disparity ratio grew to 2.7. For most of the pandemic,  Native Hawaiian (N.H.), American Indian, and Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals have had the highest incident cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (Tai et al., 2021). These disparities didn’t arise from a mutated trait unique to the virus; they came from pre-existing socioeconomic and environmental factors like poverty, insufficient healthcare access, and poor health equity. 

The CDC defines health equity as the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health (CDC, 2022). Inequity leads to health disparities, which are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities for optimal health experienced by populations who have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, or environment (CDC, 2021). 

The history of health disparities is prevalent in the United States. For instance, Black and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people live fewer years on average, are more likely to die from treatable conditions or during or after pregnancy, and lose children in infancy. They are also more at risk for many chronic health conditions (Radley et al., 2021). Generations of systemic oppression, policies that promote inequality, and barriers preventing immigrants from healthcare, have all contributed to weakening low-income communities and people of color. As a result, they were more vulnerable and ill-equipped to survive a pandemic.

After the initial onset of COVID-19, the United States had a frozen economy, massive inflation, and unemployment. These  factors contributed to widening the disparity gap in low-income and ethnic communities. Compared to just 24% of White people, 32% of Black adults and 41% of Latinx adults lost their jobs as early as April 2020 as a result of the pandemic (Lake, 2020). financial pressure, affordable housing became scarce, and low-income ethnic groups became the first at risk of eviction. The lack of housing stability and increasing rent forced more people to move in together or into a homeless shelter, promoting overcrowding and the transmission of the virus. 

Furthermore, low-income minority communities are an especially vulnerable demographic that has been disproportionately targeted by the pandemic. This is not surprising considering the history of neglect and lack of resources available to them. According to new data published by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), the United States could see an estimated shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034, including shortfalls in both primary and specialty care (AAMC, 2021). Rural and underdeveloped areas, including low-income ethnic groups, will drastically experience this shortage. To combat this, “Congress took an important step to address the physician shortage by adding 1,000 new Medicare-supported graduate medical education (GME) positions—200 per year for 5 years—targeted at underserved rural and urban communities…” (AAMC, 2021). 

COVID-19 served as a reminder to how understaffed our healthcare system is. By increasing the supply of physicians and easing the burden of overworked healthcare providers, we can increase the accessibility of treatment to vulnerable ethnic groups. We have only started working to bridge the gap created by generations of inequality of neglect, but we are finally walking in the right direction. 

References

“AAMC Report Reinforces Mounting Physician Shortage.” AAMC, 11 June 2021, www.aamc.org/news/press-releases/aamc-report-reinforces-mounting-physician-shortage. 

Lake, Jaboa. “The Pandemic Has Exacerbated Housing Instability for Renters of Color.” Center for American Progress, 30 Oct. 2020, www.americanprogress.org/article/pandemic-exacerbated-housing-instability-renters-color/. 

Radley, David C, et al. “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Health Care.” The Commonwealth Fund, 18 Nov. 2021, www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/scorecard/2021/nov/achieving-racial-ethnic-equity-us-health-care-state-performance. 

Tai, Don Bambino Geno, et al. “Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups in the United States: A 2021 Update.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8513546/. 

“What Is Health Equity?” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 July 2022, www.cdc.gov/healthequity/whatis/index.html.