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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed into law to provide greater healthcare coverage to millions of Americans. The passage of the ACA bill into law was to eliminate the gap between existing health care disparities among the undeserved, underprivileged and minority groups. However, the ACA have not abolish health care disparities but only reduce them to some extent. For instance, The ACA mandates that both Medicaid and insurance plans cover lifesaving preventive services recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force, including colorectal cancer (CRC) screening and choice between colonoscopy, fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) and flexible sigmoidoscopy (Green, Coronado, Devoe, & Allison, 2014). Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of …show more content…
CRC screening reduces morbidity and mortality by 60% and is considered the standard of care (Maciosek, Solberg, Coffield, Edwards, & Goodman, 2006). However, only 53% of Hispanics and 37% of individuals without health insurance are up to-date for CRC screening (Green, Coronado, Devoe, & Allison, 2014). Lower rates of screening directly contribute to disparities in CRC morbidity and mortality (Niu, Roche, Pawlish, & Henry, 2013). As such, with millions of Americans insured under the ACA act, CRC screening will now be accessible for those who were previously uninsured and unable to afford such preventive care. Although, the ACA seek to eliminate disparities in CRC morbidity and mortality it fails to reduce out-of-pocket costs for follow-up CRC screening. In fact, the ACA could lead to increased costs for patients and greater disparities in screening
Health Insurance is essential to Personal Well Being and your Health. For a large proportion of uninsured people, health insurance can and most often a matter of choice. Uninsured Americans normally tend to delay and even go without doctors' visits, prescription medications, and other effective treatments, even if they know they have serious or a life-threatening condition. (Institute 2009). 20 to 30 percent of uninsured children are more likely to need certain shots, prescription medications, asthma care ,basic dental care and other things that we would consider a must have. Uninsured children with conditions requiring ongoing medical attention are 6 to 8 times more likely to have health care needs and can’t get the required tools and medicine that they need. Uninsured children are also more likely than insured children to miss school due to health problems and to experience preventable hospitalizations. (Institute 2009)Many of these children are classified as being the minority out of the 20 to 30 percent of children about 15 percent are minorities (H.
Long, S. K., Kenney, G. M., Zuckerman, S., Goin, D. E., Wissoker, D., Blavin, F., Blumber, L. (2014). The Health Reform Monitoring Survey: Addressing Data Gaps to Provide Timely Insights into The Affordable Care Act. Health Affirs, 33(1), 161-167. doi:10.1377/hithaff.2013.0934
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
As of today, there are many programs and efforts being made that have either already decreased the gap or are attempting to bring change to the problem of increased deaths of African American women from breast cancer. One example is a study that was done in Massachusetts that gave low-income African American women aged 50-70 resources and education for six years, and it was “concluded that the Massachusetts program appeared to mitigate the disadvantages of living in high-poverty neighborhoods” for the incidence of breast cancer in that specific area (Cunningham 595). This study shows that these women need help that has not been previously provided to them in order to reduce the disparity. In this regard, the role of affordable health care needs to be available in order to decrease this problem. The same study showed that “among women without health insurance, disproportionately large numbers are [older African Americans], providing an explanation for high rates of advanced stage cancers at presentation among [African American] women in general” (Cunningham 594). If women are to be able to access affordable screenings, affordable health care must also be provided. Once again, this brings in the role of government in the lives of African American women. Federally qualified health centers offer preventative health care and screenings for a reduced or free cost to women of low socio-economic status, many of which happened to be African American women at a particular clinic, and it was found that the incidence of breast cancer in that community was reduced from the rates that were established previously (Adams 640). Therefore, if low-income women are to be able to access quality health care, then there must be more federally qualified ...
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.
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.
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.
This in turn means that 17 percent of the total United States population are Hispanics. They are a diverse ethnic group and as the years go on the population of Hispanics keeps growing; they are the fastest growing and by 2050 Hispanics will make up 30 percent of the United States’ population. They’re the highest number of uninsured among the racial/ethnic groups. Statistics show that one out of three Hispanics lack medical insurance coverage. There are more Hispanic children than there are Hispanic adults over the age of 65 and one in four of the total amount of Hispanics are non-citizens. They all continue to face troubles in health coverage and care. Hispanics are more likely to work in low-income positions as well as being more likely to work in agriculture and construction jobs. Most of these jobs do not offer health care coverage, and when they do, Hispanics cannot accept it due to their already low incomes. When it comes to Medicaid, they cover over half of Hispanic children and since more than half of all Hispanics are already said to be in low-income families, this means that they will be able to receive Medicaid just like their children are. The fathers and husbands of Hispanic families are more likely to stop their children from going to the doctor until the very last minute and are more likely themselves to not do anything until they get so sick they must go to the
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.
In the United States, numerous of Latino adults lack a usual healthcare provider and roughly half of Latinos decide to not visit a doctor throughout the year. Latinos are more likely to postpone healthcare regarding an illness or withdraw from treatment once their symptoms made a disappearance. Healthcare advocates are confused as to why Latinos seem cautious to seek for healthcare; since one-third of them are uninsured. Approximately, one quarter of Latino adults in the United States are undocumented, therefore they're not qualified for Medicaid or any other government
The ACA expanded Medicare/ Medicaid, strengthened employer based care, and included an individual mandate. Before the ACA there were 32 million people uninsured and “approximately half, or 16 million, will gain coverage through an expansion of Medicaid” (Barr, 2011, p. 292). To improve the cost of care the ACA required employers with more the 50 employees to offer plans and individuals would have to purchase plans from the government. “ACA does not address directly the issue of disparities in access of care based on a patient’s race or ethnicity, it does impose on providers the responsibility for collecting data on the race or ethnicity, primary language, disability status, and similar demographic characteristics of patients cared for” (Barr, 2011, p. 293). The ACA strives to give health coverage to all but the power still lies in the private sector.
Approximately 1 in 5 Americans do not have medical insurance and are more likely to lack a usual source of medical care, and more likely to skip routine medical care because of the very high costs, increasing their risk for serious health conditions. For the program, increasing the access to routine medical care and medical insurance are very important steps to achieve their goal of improving America’s health. The access to health services leading health indicators are those with medical insurance and a usual primary care provider. The access to health services in a regular basis can prevent disease and disability, detect and treat health conditions, increase quality of life, decrease the probability of premature death, and increase life
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a federal that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 to systematically improve, reform, and structure the healthcare system. The ACA’s ultimate goal is to promote the health outcomes of an individual by reducing costs. Previously known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the ACA was established in order to increase the superiority, accessibility, and affordability of health insurance. President Obama has indicated the ACA is fully paid for and by staying under the original $900 billion dollar budget; it will be able to provide around 94% of Americans with coverage. In addition, the ACA has implemented that implemented that insurance companies can no longer deny c...
If the United States had unlimited funds, the appropriate response to such a high number of mentally ill Americans should naturally be to provide universal coverage that doesn’t discriminate between healthcare and mental healthcare. The United States doesn’t have unlimited funds to provide universal healthcare at this point, but the country does have the ability to stop coverage discrimination. A quarter of the 15.7 million Americans who received mental health care listed themselves as the main payer for the services, according to one survey that looked at those services from 2005 to 2009. 3 Separate research from the same agency found 45 percent of those not receiving mental health care listing cost as a barrier.3 President Obama and the advisors who helped construct The Affordable Care Act recognized the problem that confronts the mentally ill. Mental healthcare had to be more affordable and different measures had to be taken to help patients recover. Although The Affordable Care Act doesn’t provide mentally ill patients will universal coverage, the act has made substantial changes to the options available to them.
Although recent healthcare reform has helped increase the number of Americans having insurance coverage for colorectal screening, this does not mean that every American