Deaths in aged-care homes soared in US
Deaths among Medicare recipients in US nursing homes surged by 32 percent in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2019, with the highest increase in death rates among Asian Americans, a government watchdog report released on Tuesday said.
A total of 27 percent of Asian Americans perished in 2020 compared to 17 percent the previous year. For white people, the death rate grew to 24 percent in 2020 from 18 percent in 2019. Death rates for Hispanic and black patients were 23 percent last year, up from 15 percent in 2019, the report from the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department said.
Medicare is a government-funded program which provides healthcare coverage to the elderly, while Medicaid is the state-federal medical program for low-income people.