On June 22, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled an aggregate data set on the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on its beneficiaries. The CMS brief is especially noteworthy for offering COVID-19-related racial and ethnic health disparity data on a national scale, thereby extending reports heretofore limited to states, cities, or health systems. The CMS COVID-19 brief exposes distressing racial and ethnic health disparities. It is the objective of this commentary to trace the origins of the CMS COVID-19 brief, discuss its salient findings, and consider its implications.
Keywords: COVID-19; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Health Care Disparities.
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