Coronavirus Death Toll Shines Light On ‘Inequality’ In Health Care For African Americans | MSNBC

we're joined out by Marc Morial president and CEO of the National Urban League and dr.

Selwyn Vickers senior vice-president Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama Birmingham and his USA Today op IDI he writes something we should all consider that the way minorities are being treated during this pandemic is creating a crisis within a crisis both of you have devoted a significant portion of your careers to these issues dr.

what do you mean by that well I think that the op-ed was really to speak to the fact that there were significant disparities in how different populations in our country were responding or responding to the Cova at 19 particularly African Americans who were as you showed had a disproportionate suffering particularly as relates to death and even sometimes ICU admissions and so it was to really convey that that crisis is real and it's across the country as you just demonstrated in that chart yeah you mentioned that and obviously as a doctor you deal with with the data and the Diagnostics let's take a look at these percentages where you see Washington we mentioned 75% of the deaths I mean it's just such a disparity Louisiana 33 percent of population african-american 65 percent of the deaths in the south which has had a bit of a different experience at times with this kovat and different Geographic patterns 27% of the population South Carolina on the bottom there having an American fifty-five percent of the deaths doctor how much of this is preventable treatable and how much of this is a part of underlying systemic racism and health and economic disparity and you'd have to treat the root cause so your it's a it's a really credible question and when we look at individuals health there are really two big components there are medical determinants and social determinants and so when you look at the medical determinants of health these pre-existing conditions were significantly higher in african-americans particularly in the deep south in some of our urban areas whether it's heart disease kidney disease obesity or diabetes and when in this setting those individuals have an infections from coronavirus particularly kovin 19 their responses and challenging and so you see the intercepts let's pause on that and then i'ma let you get I think you're gonna get to the second part but on that point what your what your educating us on is there are underlying conditions that we know about medically statistically that exist and this crisis has turned many of them into a death sentence that is correct and and then unfortunately even if you're managing your heart disease or your diabetes it doesn't relieve you from being at major risk of actually succumbing to this virus if you have it prior to getting infected and unfortunately African Americans have these in a disproportionate number compared to the rest of the population and then something yeah forward-looking sorry yeah yeah the other factor that really predicts our health and particularly relates to the african-american community are the social determinants of health and you were you were indicating that inequities as it relates to access to health poverty living in high-density areas limited opportunities to for economic growth all of those things can have an impact on whether someone is actually able to manage their health or actually aid you're able to prevent getting one of these chronic illnesses particularly heart disease or hypertension or obesity those factors play in how someone is able to address their health and subsequently we're seeing this play out again as a factor of significance when you look at the areas where the greatest mortality it's not only those that are african-american but they happen to be the poorest – they often have the least testing and they often have the least access to healthcare mm-hmm understood and you lay that all out such an important piece for citizens and policymakers alike Marc Morial big picture because you work on on this civil rights and how do you improve it and how do you force change and one of the first things which has come up because I've interviewed you before is in debates about race in America there is a whole crowd that says a lot of the time well this is old this is over why are we still talking about slavery is it why would we do reparations for something that I wasn't alive for etc it would seem this is another reminder another proof your example of why that is wrong because this is right now and people are dying and there are economic and racial disparities that undergird the death ray yeah thank you for having me and Eric it's it ain't over till it's over and it ain't no that's the point that there's a continuum of slavery and segregation and health disparities and social inequality in this country and what the Kovach crisis is doing is shining a spotlight on that problem in a huge way and so this moment where African Americans have in effect a triple whammy high incidences of death due to coronavirus number-one high percentages of people who are in essential jobs and can't work from home and thirdly now we see high rates of unemployment speak to what Congress has to do and what the nation has to do you respond to this so we need to fix the public health system not fix it back the way it was but fix it in a way that's more inclusive and more equitable we need to understand that too many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and by missing a paycheck or two they're now on food lines the demand in the need for those who are food insecure yes spike we're doing feeding ever believes around the country we just completed a survey which showed that 80% of our follow our constituents the people we serve lists food insecurity as one of the highest needs right this is the America this moment let me let me press you on this though what's one thing you think government or Congress could do to help fix this problem as the doctor diagnoses it I think that in we could close the loopholes in the access to health care system number one expand Medicaid on a mandatory basis and close the holes in the system number two expand Medicare so that people 50 and older have access to the Medicare system third create a public option so that every American has access to health care and then build I'm over I want to get the doctor back in though because let me take just one point doctor you here Marc Morial advocate okay if you lowered the Medicare there 250 these things we're hearing about somebody loses their job right not their fault right now twenty-six million then they contract COBIT and they don't have health care is that the kind of policy you think would help address some of this yeah I think in general I the mr.

Maurya memorial statement is true access is really critical it's not only critical to treatment but it's critical to managing the public health needs of populations in this country particularly African Americans it's an opportunity not only the Creed ownership but also for the system to also provide a unique chance for people to enter the healthcare and improve their lives I think we're seeing that now and the combination of high density the essential workers who often exposed as well as the chronic diseases are the things that have really created this massive death toll in African America so the answer is yes I think it would be very helpful well this is an important conversation we're gonna keep doing segments like this to keep shining the light dr.

Vickers I just got to meet you I want to thank you mayor Morial since I already know you I'm gonna take a liberty are you ready go ahead I'm gonna take a Liberty with you I like seeing you in the workout gear at home I like that look hey man I ever put on a suit and tie in six weeks I don't have all many shoes now either great well that's good to know we got extra information a little bit of a laugh during we see hard times make some candy thank you sir thank you doctor hey I'm already melbourne from MSNBC you can see more of our videos right here or better yet subscribe to our youtube channel below you could have been anywhere in the world that you're here with us and we appreciate that.