Compliance Today published an article by Jeremy Burnette and Sidney Welch, Atlanta Office Managing Partner, analyzing the racial and ethnic disparities in the United States healthcare system’s response to COVID-19.

“On July 20, 2020, OCR issued a bulletin for hospitals, other healthcare providers, and state and local agencies that receive federal financial assistance to address ‘Civil Rights Protections Prohibiting Race, Color and National Origin Discrimination During COVID-19.’ OCR’s bulletin provides valuable guidance for compliance officers and all healthcare providers to ensure they comply with Title VI and provide COVID-19 testing and treatment in an equitable manner.

In this bulletin, OCR reminds all healthcare providers and state and local agencies that receive federal financial assistance that they must comply with Title VI. The bulletin then recaps some of the actions HHS had taken to date to enhance COVID-19 prevention, testing, and treatment for racial and ethnic minority groups that the pandemic has affected on a disproportionately negative basis. HHS concluded that the racial and ethnic demographic data the CDC began collecting in April ‘suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups,’ such as the African American, Hispanic, and Native American populations. In response, the CDC appointed a COVID-19 chief health equity officer and further expanded COVID-19 data collection.”