Amongst Non-Aged Adults, Low-Revenue, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black Adults Have Larger Threat of Growing Critical Sickness if Contaminated With Coronavirus

In non-older adults, Native American / Alaskan and black adults are at greater risk of serious illness than whites when infected with the new coronavirus – mainly due to a higher prevalence of underlying health conditions and long-standing differences in health care and others socio-economic factors according to a new KFF analysis. People in households with lower incomes are also at higher risk.

The analysis shows that the proportion of non-elderly adults at higher risk for serious illness is 34 percent for Native Americans / Alaskan people and 27 percent for blacks, compared with 21 percent for whites. Asian adults are least likely to have a higher risk of serious illness when infected (12%).

The analysis also shows that more than one in three (35%) non-older adults with household incomes less than $ 15,000 are at greater risk of developing serious illnesses when infected with coronavirus. This is more than double that of adults with household incomes greater than $ 50,000 (16%). Again, the higher risk arises from a higher prevalence of the underlying health conditions in low-income, non-elderly people.

The new analysis builds on previous work by the KFF that looked at how many people in the United States are at higher risk of developing serious illness due to the coronavirus. The results are in line with emerging data on COVID-19 cases and deaths, which suggest that serious illnesses disproportionately affect people in color communities due to the underlying health conditions and economic challenges such groups face.

Also available is a new short animation that examines the populations at higher risk of serious illnesses when infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The complete analysis as well as other KFF data and analyzes on COVID-19 can be found at kff.org.