Economic Inequality In Health Care

1177 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Access to healthcare us essay

Access: Health insurance coverage for those who cannot afford it
Timely use of health services to achieve the best health outcomes is defined as Access (Millman,1993). According to me, the definition of access to healthcare is broader. Accessibility cannot be achieved without affordability and availability of health services. An interventionist government can put in place some policies to ensure that equity is established in the society and make sure that people can have access to at least a minimal level of healthcare. I personally believe that the structure of society since the development of humankind has been in a way that it created a lot of economic inequality between the individuals. A government may not be able to immediately erase …show more content…

As we understand, insurance works by pooling of different individuals. If the number of individuals taking unnecessary risks which put their health in jeopardy and require healthcare services to correct the problems caused, the cost of premiums increase for the other people. It is well known that private insurers pay physicians a lot more than what Medicare pays them (Boccuti and Moon,2003) and similar trends have been observed in many other aspects. Private sector market can play a positive role in controlling the healthcare costs. They should move away from the fee for service methodology and adapt value based payment methodologies. As mentioned earlier, private sector market is one of the reasons for increased costs of healthcare. They should become transparent in terms of costs per service. This will also increase the free competition in healthcare and will control the …show more content…

Some examples like creating star ratings for Medicare advantage plans, moving towards the value based payments and bundled payments, emphasis on prevention and initiatives to tackle readmissions through ACA have played a major role in improving quality. A government which believes in not having laws in place/ fewer laws cannot improve the quality of care and none of the healthcare organizations might meet the quality standards as there is lack of incentives/penalties that would push them to improve

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Two-Tier Health Care System

    1996 Words  | 4 Pages

    A positive aspect of this mechanism is that it adds in a middle man, controlling and regulating insurance, minimizing risks of adverse selection for both the insurance company and the customer. When insurance is distributed by private companies, adverse selection occurs and companies refuse insurance to high risk groups and institute costly underwriting practices to others (Heath, 123). In addition to preventing adverse selection, this insurance mechanism provides all individuals with the basics of care. As of 2011, it was reported that 100% of the Canadian population was covered under the public health insurance (Nationmaster). Unfortunately, the public insurance mechanism has

    Read More

  • Health Disparities and Differences: An Analysis of U.S. Policy

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    The goal within the United States government is to treat each individual as an equal citizen. Unfortunately, through the inadequate practice of public policies people have been treated unequal because of natural conditions and the countries social environment. In health policy, the two concepts that cause unequal treatment are health disparities and health differences. Health disparities are resulted from social factors that are avoidable and unjust. For example, saying ovarian cancer death rates are higher because men have better research on prostate cancer (Smith, 2016). “The extent and nature of health disparities changes over the life course” (Adler, 2008, p. 241). Health differences are inherently biological being completely natural and

    Read More

  • Uninsured Americans

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Health insurance is currently an important issue in the United States. Everyday more and more Americans become uninsured due to job loss and an increase in premiums. These Americans add to the ever growing population of 45.7 million people who are currently uninsured (Bialik). Moreover only 27% of those uninsured are under the age of 65 (NCHC). This is staggering considering most of those who are uninsured have, or soon will, suffer from some sort of illness or injury. As a result they will not be able to afford proper treatment. Insurance premiums can range in cost from fifty dollars per month, to fifteen hundred dollars per month (Kreidler). An individual’s premium is determined by factors they choose as well as other factors looked at by their provider. The cost of health insurance in America varies depending on the controllable factors, like particular insurance policies, and uncontrollable factors, like age.

    Read More

  • The Universal Healthcare System

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, according to Jenna Flannigan, write at Healthline.com, America’s current for-profit system allows for competition between medical and pharmaceutical companies which drives prices up astronomically. “In countries where health insurance is government-run or nonprofit-run, there is no profit factor to drive up prices…For example, a typical bypass surgery in the Netherlands costs about $15,000 while in the United States it costs about $75,000” (Flannigan). This figure illustrates how the US’s needless competition between private, for-profit organizations make medical care unnecessarily unattainable to those who aren’t very affluent or do not have comprehensive medical care. These bloated prices do not even contribute to better care a majority of the time, as pointed out by political consultant Karin J. Robinson. “Here in Britain, for instance, we spend about 8% of the country's annual GDP on health care, compared to 15% in the US, and yet the overall health of the population is similar, with perhaps even a slight advantage for the UK” (Robinson). America’s current system is far more expensive, but for what reason? A healthcare system should be driven a will to help those in need, not for the personal gain of companies that are rife with greed. America needs to follow the path of other first-world nations and take a different approach to

    Read More

  • Healthcare Disparities among African Americans

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Racial Disparities in the United States Health Care System

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racial disparities in The United States health care system are widespread and well documented. Social and economic inequalities between racial minorities and their white counter parts have lead to lower life expectancy rates, higher infant mortality rates, and overall poorer health for people of color. As the nation’s population continues to become increasingly diverse, these disparities are likely to grow if left unaddressed. The Affordable Care Act includes various provisions that specifically aim to reduce inequalities for racially and ethnically marginalized groups. These include provisions in the Senate bill and House bill that aim to expand coverage, boost outreach and education programs, establish standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate practices, and diversify the health care workforce. The ACA, while not a perfect solution for eliminating health disparities, serves as an important first step and an unprecedented opportunity to improve health equity in the United States.

    Read More

  • Ethnic Inequality in Health Care

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    The purpose of this essay is to firstly give an overview of the existence of inequalities of health related to ethnicity, by providing some evidence that ethnic inequality in health is a reality in the society and include definitions of keywords. Secondly, I will bring forward arguments for and against on the major sociological explanations (racial discrimination, arefact, access to and quality of care) for the existence of health inequalities related to ethnicity. Thirdly, I would also like to take the knowledge learnt for this topic and brief outline how this may help me in future nursing practice.

    Read More

  • Problems With the U.S. Healthcare System

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    National health systems are assessed by the extent to which expenditure and actions in public health and medical care contributes to the crucial social goals of improving health, increasing access to quality healthcare, reducing health disparities, protecting citizens from penury due to medical e...

    Read More

  • Effects of Income Inequality on Quality of Healthcare

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    Positive rights are rights that everyone is entitled to including: the right to a public education, access to public roads, and the right to health care. There are no guarantees when it comes to life, but having health insurance makes a huge difference with preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases. Of course having insurance itself is a great resource to ensure medical care and containing costs, but not all insurance programs are created equal. Insurance programs have caveats, exclusions, varying co-payments, and access to certain doctors and hospitals, which creates an ethical dilemma. Receiving the best care is subjective in most cases, but with money you can buy almost anything, including the best care. Although those living in poverty are given access to healthcare, that does not mean they receive the best or equal care as those who are wealthy.

    Read More

  • Chronic Care Model Essay

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reforming the health care delivery system to progress the quality and value of care is indispensable to addressing the ever-increasing costs, poor quality, and increasing numbers of Americans without health insurance coverage. What is more, reforms should improve access to the right care at the right time in the right setting. They should keep people healthy and prevent common, preventable impediments of illnesses to the greatest extent possible. Thoughtfully assembled reforms would support greater access to health-improving care, in contrast to the current system, which encourages more tests, procedures, and treatments that are either

    Read More

  • Health Inequality Within Communities

    2575 Words  | 6 Pages

    Public health as it is implicated in the lives of the community – it is important to conceptualise what this might mean. Moreover, public health has seen as a multidiscipline perspective in which it can be defined on many levels, and I find that it could be elusive to understand its meaning. By simple understanding of public health, I refer to an approach derived by Winslow (1920) and Baggott (2000).

    Read More

  • Essay On Health Care Inequality

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States is Health Care Equally Distributed? The Health Care Industry is one of the largest Social Institutions, made to ensure a communities wellbeing. The issue at hand, Health Care distribution is directly correlated to one’s income. In most cases Health care is often not distributed to those who need it but cannot afford it, and is to those who can afford it and may not need it. Health Care equality can be related to both Conflict and Functionalist Theories.

    Read More

  • Characteristics of the U.S. Health Care Delivery System

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    retrospect to its governing authority (Shi & Singh, 2012). However, private and public agencies are the controlling constituent in today’s business. Free markets allow patients to choose providers without the prior approval of insurance companies. The current system offers a proposed plan of limited physicians in exchange for payment of services. Because the potential has been given to the payers, they regulate the cost of services rendered through contractual

    Read More

  • Healthcare Coverage: Unequal based on Wealth

    1951 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a perfect world all patients would receive the same level of healthcare and they would all be treated equally based on their illness. Although, living in a capitalist society not everything is meant to be equal. Our country was founded by settlers looking to escape from punitive taxation and were looking to be free from all other countries and start a new country. The United States is known as the place for people to chase the American Dream, where you work hard and the fruits of your labor can potentially payoff, overwhelmingly in some cases. However, not everyone can or will realize their American Dream since space is limited at the top. The richest Americans are able to enjoy larger homes, nicer cars, and lavish vacations. These are material items, but there is something else that they are able to buy that is not material, that is the right to life. The best healthcare can be viewed as subjective, but having more money you can buy almost anything, including the best care and options that people with less resources cannot. Therefore, people at all income levels experience different levels of healthcare. Many Americans are given access to healthcare, including those living in poverty, but that does not mean they receive the best or equal care as those who are wealthy, which is unethical.

    Read More

  • Inequities In Health

    1917 Words  | 4 Pages

    Step 1: Topic 1; Significant concerns confronting Australian society are the inequities in health between socioeconomic (SES) groups which result in lower SES groups having significantly higher rates of morbidity and mortality at an earlier age. Follow table 1 to apply the SI template to analyse the construction of this problem for a disadvantaged group in Australia and reflect on the social model of health to reduce these inequities.

    Read More

More about Economic Inequality In Health Care

Open Document