What I Know and What I Need to Find Out

The COVID-19 pandemic was an extremely deadly surprise that the United States health care system was clearly not ready for. At the very peak of the pandemic, we heard stories of supply shortages and thousands of hospitals around the country that were pushed to the brink of destruction. As the grim numbers began to come in, they showed that people of color were disproportionately contracting and dying from the COVID-19 disease at alarming rates. In her article “Coronavirus in African Americans and other People of Color”, (Hopkinsmedicine.org) Dr. Sherita Hill Golden talks about how communities of color are experiencing higher cases numbers and deaths. According to the article, African Americans in Chicago, while only making one third of the city’s population, are two thirds of the city’s COVID deaths.

It is no secret that African Americans and other people of color disproportionately die of more diseases than white people. Conditions such as hypertension and diabetes kill more black people than white people every year. What I needed to find out was, why? How is it that people in certain communities are living while others are dying abruptly? How bad is our health care system treating people of color?

What I Did

I began by researching our health care system and the many Americans that were medically uninsured during this health crisis. As I saw the death tolls rising in heavily populated inner cities, I redirected my focus to the percentages of people of color that were dying because their numbers were higher than whites.  The death tolls in African American communities especially were extremely high. Then, I learned that these communities are being hit hard simply because of inadequate health care.

Granted, there may have been underlying medical conditions that complicated their ability to fight off the disease. However, these conditions may have been treated if there was a strong health care system in place. This led me to see that this is not solely a COVID-19 issue, but rather a society issue. The socioeconomic divide between black and white people has always been an issue when it comes to health care. Years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, urban communities have had difficulty getting their basic health care needs met. Poor urban communities in cities like Chicago and Atlanta often have difficulties finding an adequate health care center or hospital that they can access in their neighborhoods. This has led to more blacks being medically uninsured or having to rely on government sponsored public health insurance, like Medicaid.

What I Have Learned

Racial disparities in the health care system are a real thing. It has been an issue for decades and has been the subject of various studies conducted throughout our country’s history. The results of these studies show that even if all citizens had the same access to health care, high cost, racial bias, and differential treatment would still negatively affect people of color.

High cost of health insurance is known to be directly linked to high death rates amongst black people. According to “Racism, Inequality and Health Care for African Americans,” a report published by The Century Foundation, the rate of uninsured amongst black people is 9.7% (2019). This is while only making up 13.4 percent of the population (United States Census Bureau, 2019).  By comparison, the uninsured rate amongst white people is only 5.4%. According to the report, African Americans make up 18% of the underinsured population, meaning they will eventually pay a lot more money in out-of-pocket medical costs. The report states that the average family spends $8,200 a year on health insurance and benefits (2019). For black households, health insurance costs diminish 20% of their annual income and cause massive amounts of debt. Since there are so many underlying conditions in the black community the odds of getting sick are extremely high. This means that even if one person in a black family gets sick it could financially ruin them for years.

Lower quality health care is another contributing factor linked to the horrific statistics of African Americans mortality rates. In “Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities in Health Care,” a publication from the American Bar Association, the National Academy of Medicine described “lower-quality health care” as “ inferior care that physicians give their black patients” (American Bar Association, 2018). According to the article, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) documented that black and other minority patients are less likely to receive proper cardiac care, transplants, or the best treatments for cancer or AIDS (2018). Data like this can explain why black women are 42% likely to die from breast cancer and why almost 50% of black women over the age of 20 have heart diseases. The fact that I am a black woman makes this a major concern for my own health and safety. Now, I will always wonder if I am receiving the upmost adequate care when I require medical attention.

One study conducted by NAM of 400 hospitals revealed that after surgeries, black patients are often released earlier than their white counterparts. Almost all of them were released before they had a chance to properly recover. The article also revealed that black patients are more likely to receive “less desirable” treatments for certain diseases and illnesses. “Why would hospitals do something like that?” you may ask. Unfortunately, it is due to black people having the highest statistics of being uninsured, therefore it is assumed that health care expenses will not be paid. So, my question to our government will be, is money the only thing that matters when it comes to someone’s life?

What This Means to Me

As I began to research the pitfalls of America’s health care system, I stumbled upon a bigger issue. Many communities are gravely affected by the socioeconomic complexities in our country and cannot afford private health insurance. In addition, African Americans are receiving subpar health care in the United States which is very disturbing. Knowing that I am an African American woman, I think about how this directly relates to my life.  How bad off would my family and I be if I did not have private insurance through the union? It is the last thing anyone wants to think about when they become ill; however, it is an unfortunate reality.

Works Cited

“Coronavirus in African Americans and Other People of Color.” Coronavirus in African Americans and Other People of Color | Johns Hopkins Medicine, 20 Apr. 2020, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid19-racial-disparities.

Bridges, Khiara M. “Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities in Health Care.” American Bar Association, 2020, www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/racial-disparities-in-health-care/.

Bulatao, Rodolfo A. “Health Care.” Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life: A Research Agenda., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK24693/.

Robert Pearl, M.D. “Why Health Care Is Different If You're Black, Latino Or Poor.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 Mar. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2015/03/05/healthcare-black-latino-poor/#774d894f7869.