Background: Short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 will likely be designated pre-existing conditions. We describe the prevalence of pre-existing conditions among community health center patients overall and those with COVID-19 by race/ethnicity.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study used electronic health record data from OCHIN, a network of 396 community health centers across 14 states.
Results: Among all patients with COVID-19, 33% did not have a pre-existing condition before the pandemic. Up to half of COVID-19-positive non-Hispanic Asians (51%), Hispanic (36%), and non-Hispanic black (28%) patients did not have a pre-existing condition before the pandemic.
Conclusions: The future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is uncertain, and the long-term health effects of COVID-19 are largely unknown; therefore, ensuring people with pre-existing conditions can acquire health insurance is essential to achieving health equity.
Keywords: Affordable Care Act; COVID-19; Chronic Disease; Community Health Centers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ethnic Groups; Health Equity; Health Policy; Pandemics; Pre-Existing Condition.
© Copyright 2021 by the American Board of Family Medicine.