Study looks at US counties' non-COVID excess deathsUS counties with more excess deaths not attributed to COVID-19 had less health insurance coverage and primary care as well as more at-home deaths, according to a research letter today in JAMA Network Open.The researchers looked at 2020 data from the US National Center for Health Statistics for 2,096 counties with 319.1 million residents and divided county characteristics into quartiles.Overall, 17% of 2020 excess deaths were not attributed to COVID-19.
In counties with the most uninsured people, that share rose to 27%, and counties with the fewest primary care physicians per capita attributed 20% of their excess deaths to non-COVID reasons.