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Humanizing the Pandemic’s Impact on Our Nation
Patricia L. Lewis, Executive Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, UnitedHealth Group
I want to thank you for taking the time to explore this year’s America’s Health Rankings Annual Report — one of the most comprehensive editions we have published to date.
It comes at a time unlike any other in the 30-plus year history of America’s Health Rankings. Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are just beginning to understand its lasting public health implications.
This year’s edition provides a significant step toward that understanding, particularly the pandemic’s impact on underserved communities. In addition to relying on national and state data, we have included real-time insights and survey data that add a new layer of depth to emerging health trends and bring more clarity to the pandemic’s impact and how it has widened health disparities.
The result is a more holistic understanding of the health trends shaping American society today. For example, more people are dying prematurely, including a notable increase in drug deaths. After declining in 2020, the percentage of people with multiple chronic conditions has increased. Long COVID is an emerging challenge for many Americans, particularly Hispanic adults.
At the same time, more Americans have health insurance coverage. Although shortfalls still remain, there are more mental health providers to meet the growing demand for services. And more people have access to high-speed internet, which is particularly important given the shift toward virtual care and the connectivity needed to address social isolation.
The data you’ll see in the subsequent pages quantify the impact of a global pandemic and the urgent need to continue addressing the deep and persistent health disparities impacting our nation.
I hope you’ll also feel the very real and human impact of this moment. Many of us have watched — often from afar — a family member seriously ill with COVID-19. We have held the hand of a friend struggling through cancer treatments or grappling with drug addiction. We have all felt the mental and physical strain of the last three years.
The real people behind these numbers are what make the work ahead so critically important. Building on the insights in this report, it is up to the collective health system — health care companies, public health authorities, governments, community organizations and more — to partner and take action.
Despite the challenges ahead, I remain optimistic that the health system can rise to the moment to address longstanding disparities and improve the health and well-being of all Americans, for this generation and the next.