The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare long-standing racial and ethnic health inequities and disparities across America, including in Massachusetts. Black and Hispanic people in Massachusetts have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 relative to White and Asian people. Specifically, they are two to three times more likely to contract COVID-19, twice as likely to be hospitalized for it, and three times more likely to die from it than White and Asian people of similar age. On a national level, the impact of the pandemic has had a similarly adverse impact on the lives of Black and Hispanic people: While average life expectancy declined by 1.36 years for White Americans between 2018 and 2020, it fell by 3.25 years for non-Hispanic Black people and 3.88 years for Hispanic people. The pandemic was singularly responsible for eliminating the nation’s progress since 2010 in reducing the life expectancy gap between Black and White people.

Originally prepared for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.