Dear Pharmacists,
Hope your summer is going well!
CMS has released data on health disparities during COVID-19.
Here is more information on Medicare COVID-19 Data Snapshot:
The Medicare COVID-19 Data Snapshot fact sheet reports COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations data for Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with COVID-19.
The Medicare COVID-19 Data Snapshot is about people with Medicare who are diagnosed with COVID-19. The data sources for the Snapshot are Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) claims data, Medicare Advantage (MA) encounter data, and Medicare enrollment information.
Here is the key information from the Data Snapshot:
- The new data show that more than 325,000 Medicare beneficiaries had a diagnosis of COVID-19 between January 1 and May 16, 2020. This translates to 518 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
- The data also indicate that nearly 110,000 Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized for COVID-19-releated treatment, which equals 175 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
- Blacks were hospitalized with COVID-19 at a rate nearly four times higher than whites. The disparities presented in the snapshot go beyond race/ethnicity and suggest the impact of social determinants of health, particularly socio-economic status.
- End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients (individuals with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis) had the highest rate of hospitalization among all Medicare beneficiaries, with 1,341 hospitalizations per 100,000 beneficiaries.
For further information:
