Disparities In Medicine
For many wealthy Americans, medical insurance is a necessity in order to protect themselves financially from any unforeseen events that might occur. But for those who are not insured, they risk paying out of pocket, hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a simple procedure. Many who do not have insurance are minorities who face economic struggles. These economic struggles are met with social struggles as well. Together, they prevent minorities from obtaining medical insurance and so problems like early mortality arise from a lack of health insurance. In 2009 the Affordable Care act was passed by congress and essentially lets everyone purchase insurance from the government at a low rate as apposed to private insurers. The Affordable Care act has made it so that all uninsured individuals obtain affordable health coverage. The Affordable Care act is important because it reduces the disparities of minorities in medicine.
For many of the poor in America, health insurance is something that is not feasible. In the online report by CNN called, Why health reform is key for minorities, “Many jobs held by minorities do not offer health insurance, about half of whites are covered through an employer-sponsored health plan, in contrast to the rate for African-Americans (38%) and Hispanics (28%),”(Houry, 1). Private insurance is available for those who are not insured by employers, but the cost is significantly more than having insurance through an employer, and because many minorities are paid significantly less than white people, many cannot afford insurance, (Houry, 1). The reason that minorities do not get health care is because, “Many minorities have lower-paying jobs that do not offer health insurance, and bec...
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...n to minorities who neglect their health with infrequent doctor visits.
For many people who struggle with their health, insurance is very important, especially when there are a lot of expensive doctors bills to pay. The Affordable Care Act can help many who cannot afford medical insurance, especially minorities who struggle to purchase health insurance. With more people with health insurance, there will be a greater quality of life because programs like these help people receive the treatment they need without having to spend all their money to receive it. With everyone having access to medical coverage we can take a step forward in eliminating the social inequality in medicine. Not only will accessible health coverage increase the overall health of minorities, it will also improve the financial and social factors that play a role in the disparities in medicine.
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
The aim of affordable care act (ACA) was to extend health insurance coverage to around 15% of US population who lack it. These include people with no coverage from their employers and don’t have coverage by US health programs like Medicaid (Retrieved from, https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/). To achieve this, the law required all Americans to have health insurance which is a reason of controversy because, it was inappropriate intrusion of government into the massive health care industry and insult to personal liberty. To make health care more affordable subsidies are offered and the cost of the insurance was supposed to be reduced by bringing younger, healthier people to the health insurance system. This could be controversial, if older, sicker people who need the coverage most enter the market but younger group decline to do so. The insurance pool will be unbalanced and the cost of coverage will rise correspondingly.
Large disparities exist between minorities and the rest of Americans in major areas of health. Even though the overall health of the nation is improving, minorities suffer from certain diseases up to five times more than the rest of the nation. President Clinton has committed the nation to eliminating the disparities in six areas of health by the Year 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be jumping in on this huge battle. The six areas are: Infant Mortality, Cancer Screening and Management, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV Infection and AIDS, and Child and Adult Immunizations.
Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...
By doing well in school, going to college, and receiving a high paying job it comes with good healthcare coverage. Without healthcare, hospitals are less likely to assist people. The reason is because of their uncertainty that the uninsured will be able to afford to pay for the service on time or even at all. Obama in his speech says, “This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don 't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.” Obama is saying that because of political influences on hospitals those who do not have insurance are forced to wait until there is a chance they might be treated. The reason that they are uninsured is because they cannot afford it. Since insurance is controlled by companies who will not provide fair rates to those who have medical conditions or do not have a job. Robert Pear a writer for The New York Times says, “From 2013 to 2014, the bureau said, the overall rate of insurance coverage increased for all racial groups and for Hispanics, who may be of any race. The increases were comparable for blacks, Asians and Hispanics (just over 4 percentage points) and lower for non-Hispanic whites (about 2 percentage points).” Even though this is 6 years after the speech by Obama it still shows that healthcare is still a problem in America, but
Health disparity is one of the burdens that contributes to our healthcare system in providing equal healthcare to everyone regarding of race, age, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status to achieve good health. Research reveals that racial and ethnic minorities are likely to receive lower quality of healthcare services than white Americans.
Until Obama-care, The United States was one of the only developed nations that did not provide some sort of health care for its citizens. To most other nations that do provide healthcare, it is because it is considered a human right that all people should be entitled to. That hasn’t been the case in America, however, where only those who could afford it could have healthcare plans. Those who stand to gain the most from universal healthcare are the already mentioned 45 million americans who currently don’t have any form of healthcare. For many of these individuals, there are many obstacles that prevent them from gaining healthcare. 80% of the 45 million are working class citizens, but either their employer doesn’t offer insurance, or they do but the individual can n...
In recent discussions of health care disparities, a controversial issue has been whether racism is the cause of health care disparities or not. On one hand, some argue that racism is a serious problem in the health care system. From this perspective, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that there is a big gap between the health care quality received by minorities, and the quality of health care received by non-minorities, and the reason is due to racism. On the other hand, however, others argue that health care disparities are not due to racism. In the words of Sally Satel, one of this view’s main proponents, “White and black patients, on average don’t even visit the same population of physicians” (Satel 1), hence this reduces the chances of racism being the cause of health care disparities. According to this view, racism is not a serious problem in the health care system. In sum, then, the issue is whether racism is a major cause of health care disparities as the Institute of Medicine argues or racism is not really an issue in the health care system as suggested by Sally Satel.
As American transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “money often costs too much”. This famous quote can be interpreted in many different ways; it seems very logical in parallel to the idea that money can result in a high social and moral cost. As individualistic as American society is, the preference for monetary stability has become a higher priority for Americans than general societal health and stability. It is then not a surprise that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as ObamaCare) has become one of the most controversial health care reforms as it looks to improve the health care system for the country whilst conflicting with cost reform at the same time. Essentially, the ACA is a program that works to entirely reform the government’s health insurance by raising taxes in order to improve quality and affordability. This taxation is done in order to provide everyone, those from different socioeconomic backgrounds, with a good and competent health care plan. The purpose of this essay is to show the importance of the ACA, as general health is more important than monetary cost.
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
Healthcare disparities are when there are inequalities or differences of the conditions of health and the quality of care that is received among specific groups of people such as African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or Hispanics. Not only does it occur between racial and ethnic groups, health disparities can happen between males and females as well. Minorities have the worst healthcare outcomes, higher death rates, and are more prone to terminal diseases. For African American men and women, some of the most common health disparities are diabetes, cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and HIV infections. Some factors that can contribute to disparities are healthcare access, transportation, specialist referrals, and non-effective communication with patients. There is also much racism that still occurs today, which can be another reason African Americans may be mistreated with their healthcare. “Although both black and white patients tended not to endorse the existence of racism in the medical system, African Americans patients were more likely to perceive racism” (Laveist, Nickerson, Bowie, 2000). Over the years, the health care system has made improvements but some Americans, such as African Americans, are still being treating unequally when wanting the same care they desire as everyone else.
The growing number of uninsured and underinsured is on the rise. In 1979, 11 million African americans were uninsured (Jaffe 10). Today, the number is 15 million and it is increasing every year (Jaffe 11). According to the Department of Health and Human Services, thirteen million blacks in America have health care and fourteen million do not (Fitzgerald 31). Also, those who are insured today may be at risk tomorrow if their employer drops coverage, or the head of the household changes or loses their job. Most blacks in the United States who are uninsured simply cannot receive health care at an affordable price because their employer does not offer it and self-insurance cost much more. The lack of adequate insurance can be devastating to families both in financial terms and in terms of timely access to needed health care (Jaffe 12). Altogether, collection agencies report every year that most blacks are in debt due to unpaid medical bills, because they are not insured or they are underinsured.
The main advantage of the Affordable Care Act is that it lowers health care costs overall by making insurance affordable for more people. First, it wi...
Therefore, the Affordable Care Act increased access to healthcare. The group that benefited the most was the individuals with pre-existing conditions. Prior to Affordable Care Act, insurance companies had the right to deny the application of those with pre-existing condition like asthma and diabetes. However, with the ACA, insurance companies cannot deny their application and they can’t increase their premium. Another group that had advantages of this new act are the poor people. People who are up to 138% of poverty level or the individuals that make less than $15,854 a year will be eligible for
Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.