Credit: Braulio Jatar/SOPA Images/Sipa USA
Coronavirus situation in New York, US – 17 Apr 2020
A government watchdog says deaths of Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A report from the Department of Health and Human Services found two spikes eight months apart in the most comprehensive look yet at COVID-19’s toll among its most vulnerable victims. Investigators say there were more than 169,000 additional deaths last year among Medicare recipients in nursing homes.
Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics saw the highest increase in death rates, with Asians being the largest at 27% dying in 2020. The report adds that only 41% of White beneficiaries in nursing homes had or likely had COVID-19 in 2020.
“We knew this was going to be bad, but I don’t think even those of us who work in this area thought it was going to be this bad,” said Harvard health policy professor David Grabowski told The Associated Press.
“This was not individuals who were going to die anyway,” Grabowski added. “We are talking about a really big number of excess deaths.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo has come under criticism in recent times for telling nursing homes back in March of 2020 to accept patients who had or were suspected of having COVID-19. Court orders, leaks, and investigations then showed that Cuomo intentionally underreported the amount of deaths in New York nursing homes.
