COVID-19 Hospitalization by Race and Ethnicity: Association with Chronic Conditions Among Medicare Beneficiaries, January 1–September 30, 2020

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the association between hospitalization for illness from COVID-19 infection and chronic conditions among Medicare beneficiaries (MBs) with fee-for-service (FFS) claims by race and ethnicity for January 1–September 30, 2020. METHODS: We used 2020 monthly Medicare data from January 1–September 30, 2020, reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to compute hospitalization rates per 100 COVID-19 MBs with FFS claims who were hospitalized (ICD-10-CM codes: B97.29 before April 1, 2020; ICD-10-CM codes: U07.1 from April 1, 2020, onward) with or without selected chronic conditions. We used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for association of person-level rate of being hospitalized with COVID-19 and each of 27 chronic conditions by race/ethnicity, controlling for age, sex, and urban-rural residence among MBs. RESULTS: COVID-19-related hospitalizations were associated with all selected chronic conditions, except osteoporosis and Alzheimer disease/dementia among COVID-19 MBs. The top five conditions with the highest odds for hospitalization among COVID-19 MBs were end-stage renal disease (adjusted odds ratios (aOR): 2.15; 95% CI: 2.10–2.21), chronic kidney disease (aOR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.52–1.56), acute myocardial infarction (aOR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.39–1.53), heart failure (aOR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.41–1.44), and diabetes (aOR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.36–1.39). CONCLUSIONS: Racial/ethnic disparities in hospitalization rate persist among MBs with COVID-19, and associations of COVID-19 hospitalization with chronic conditions differ among racial/ethnic groups in the USA. These findings indicate the need for interventions in racial/ethnic populations at the highest risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40615-020-00960-y.