Researchers from Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Discuss Research in COVID-19 (The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare coverage and access in racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States): Coronavirus – COVID-19

NewsRx COVID-19 Daily

2024 JAN 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Daily -- Fresh data on COVID-19 are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Atlanta, Georgia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “This study described spatiotemporal changes in health insurance coverage, healthcare access, and reasons for non-insurance among racial/ethnic minority populations in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic using four national survey datasets. Getis-Ord Gi* statistic and scan statistics were used to analyze geospatial clusters of health insurance coverage by race/ethnicity.”

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: “Logistic regression was used to estimate odds of reporting inability to access healthcare across two pandemic time periods by race/ethnicity. Racial/ethnic differences in insurance were observed from 2010 through 2019, with the lowest rates being among Hispanic/Latino, African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander populations. Pre-pandemic insurance coverage rates were geographically clustered. The percentage of adults citing change in employment status as the reason for non-insurance increased by about 7% after the start of the pandemic, with a small decrease observed among African American adults. Almost half of adults reported reduced healthcare access in June 2020, with 38.7% attributing reduced access to the pandemic; however, by May 2021, the percent of respondents reporting reduced access for any reason and due to the pandemic fell to 26.9% and 12.7%, respectively. In general, racial/ethnic disparities in health insurance coverage and healthcare access worsened during the pandemic.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Although coverage and access improved over time, pre-COVID disparities persisted with African American and Hispanic/Latino populations being the most affected by insurance loss and reduced healthcare access. Cost, unemployment, and eligibility drove non-insurance before and during the pandemic.”

For more information on this research see: The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare coverage and access in racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. Geospatial Health, 2023,18(2). (Geospatial Health - http://geospatialhealth.net/). The publisher for Geospatial Health is PAGEPress Publications.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2023.1222.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Lauren Freelander, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Office of Innovation and Analytics, Geospatial Research, Analysis and Services, Atlanta, GA, United States. Additional authors for this research include David S. Rickless, Corey Anderson, Frank Curriero, Sarah Rockhill, Amir Mirsajedin, Caleb J. Colon, Jasmine Lusane, Alexander Vigo-Valentin, David Wong.