Racial gaps inflate health costs
COVID in Black, Latino communities could translate to $2.7B in excessmedical spending
Chronic illnesses, the result of inadequate access to health care, are more prevalent in Texas’ Black and Latino communities, contributing to more deaths from COVID-19 and costing billions of dollars in increased health care costs and lost economic activity, according to a new study.
The study, by the Episcopal Health Foundation, a Houston nonprofit, found that disparities in both health and access to health care between Blacks, Latinos and the overall population are expected to cost Texans up to $2.7 billion annually in excess medical spending. That includes increased spending during the pandemic due to more serious cases as a result of chronic conditions, according to the report.
It’s costly, researchers said, to fail to address the roots of health inequity such as racism, poverty and access to health care.
“It’s not consistent with the values of society,” said Thomas LaVeist, the dean of Tulane University’s School of Public Health and a co-author of the report. “It’s also expensive, wasteful of resources and costing us money. We would be a more affluent society if we didn’t have this waste of human potential.”
Black and Latino populations are both more likely to contract COVID-19, because they dispro
portionately work in restaurants, retail and other industries that face the public, and more likely to die from it because of a higher prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma, according to the report.
Blacks and Latinos are also less likely to work in jobs with health benefits. Experts say that having health insurance leads to better medical outcomes as people aremore likely to get preventive care.
These factors have contributed to higher Black and Latino COVID-19 death rates. Black and Latino people are 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white people diagnosed with the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers estimate that if these disparities in death rates were eliminated through better access to health care, 5,000 fewer people would have died in Texas through September.
“These numbers are a glaring reminder of how non-medical factors like economic status and living conditions impact health and how COVID-19 is highlighting that in the worst way,” said Elena Marks, president of the Episcopal Health Foundation.
Researchers also analyzed differences in sick days, hours worked and the impact of sickness on wages. They found that the health disparities suffered by Blacks and Latinos cost Texas $5 billion in lost work productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses face additional costs when an employee repeatedly takes time off fromwork because of health issues. In addition, workers aren't as productive when they're focused on their health issues, LaVeist said.
“How many dollars are we spending on people who are sicker than they should be?” he said.
If those disparities continue, experts said that health care spending is expected to soar to $3.4 billion annually by 2030. Insurers and patients who have commercial health insurance bear the costs of increased health care spending through higher premiums and fees.
The researchers called on government officials and health care providers to fund initiatives to address the disparities in access to medical care and the chronic illnesses that result from them.
“We’re not doing right by Texans and we can do something about it,” Marks said.