Report: Gap closes in racial disparities in Michigan COVID-19 deaths

This is part of an ongoing series of articles on health and health care disparities in Michigan and how Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and health care providers are working to address them.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought racial disparities in health and health care for people of color, particularly Black people, to the forefront. In Michigan, in March and April of 2020, Black people made up 40% of deaths from COVID-19 while making up just 13.6% of the state's population.

Because of this disparity, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities through Executive Order 2020-55 to monitor and guide the state’s response to the pandemic. Bridget Hurd, vice president, Inclusion and Diversity at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, was among those appointed to the task force.

“The prevalence of health and health care disparities was not new with the COVID-19 pandemic; it is something that has impacted members of our African American/Black, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American and Pacific Islander community members for many, many decades,” said Hurd, who also serves as the lead for Blue Cross’ Office of Health and Health Care Disparities. “The formation of the task force brought diverse stakeholders together in a rapid response to work in partnership and provide accurate and reliable information, increase awareness and understanding, connect people to appropriate resources for prevention and screening and, ultimately, save lives.”

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, chairman of the Michigan Coronavirus Racial Disparities Task Force, said in a statement: “When we saw that COVID-19 was uniquely lethal in communities of color in Michigan, Governor (Gretchen) Whitmer and I knew we had to act quickly. We responded to these disturbing racial disparities with an innovative approach that put Michiganders first and set a national example for other states and the federal government to follow.”

In February 2023, state officials said the coronavirus death rate among Black people in Michigan dropped to that of whites. The efforts to close the gap were detailed in a final report released by the task force.

According to the report, death rates from the virus for Black people in Michigan were as follows:

• In 2020, the death rate from COVID-19 was 22.8 per 10,000 people ─ nearly double the death rate that year for white Michigan residents (11.8 deaths per 10,000 people).
• In 2021, the death rate fell to 16.2 per 10,000.
• In 2022, the rate fell to 8.6 per 10,000, almost identical to the 2022 death rate among white people from the coronavirus at 8.7 deaths per 10,000.

The reduction in death rates for Black people in Michigan was greater compared to the corresponding reduction in deaths for Black people nationally in 2022.

“There is power and impact in understanding both the data and the stories behind the data,” said Hurd. “The task force developed a strategy and successfully executed on that strategy to decrease mortality in our communities.”

Some of the innovations the task force implemented included:

• Distributing 6 million surgical masks and 10 million KN95 masks.
• Providing food, hygiene products and home goods to quarantined individuals.
• Funding from the Rapid Response Initiative grant gave money to 32 community and faith-based organizations to make 1.2 million contacts with community members. The organizations provided personal protective equipment, health services, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, education, food, housing, financial assistance, adult education and employment services, among other resources.
• Distributing more than 5,000 home test kits through an over-the-counter testing program.
• Administering 3,757 tests and treating 82 patients through the Test-to-Treat program.
• Administering 52,460 COVID-19 tests and 28,308 COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as an array of other services provided by nine mobile health units.
• Conducting learning tables with leaders in local and state government from Michigan and other states to discuss and share strategies, tactics, methodologies, successes and challenges for reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccination rates in communities of color.
• Developing data-driven strategies to address vaccine hesitancy by having the vaccine equity project worked with community leaders in areas of high social vulnerability.

To read about Blue Cross’ response to the pandemic, check out our COVID-19 webpage.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.