Disparity In Healthcare

Barriers to healthcare include factors that restrict or hinder people from receiving adequate and quality health care service. Health care disparities are those differences that negatively affects less advantaged group (Mehta, 2014). Health care barriers play a significant role in comprehending causes of disparities. This paper will discuss the obstacles and disparities that exist and affects healthcare.

Many Americans have access to health care that enable them to receive the care they need. Other faces a variety of barriers that make it difficult to receive health care services. According to the National Healthcare Disparities Reports, racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately represented among the uninsured and lower socioeconomic status. The report showed that health insurance is a contributing factor for poor health for some of the core measures and little improvement (AHRQ, 2014).

The state of California has approximately 3 million people uninsured representing eight percent of its total population (Levin, 2016). The disparity of lack of access to quality care and access to health care can be defined as a difference in which disadvantaged social groups persistently experience social disadvantage or discrimination systematically experience worse health greater than that of more advantaged social groups (Center for Medicare Advocacy, n.d.). The Institute of Medicine suggests that health disparities are racial or ethnic differences in the quality of health care that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention (Riley, 2012). Factors such as poverty, race, and ethnic background affect access to healthcare and quality of healthcare.

1. What does the term health disparities mean? Health disparity is a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and environmental disadvantage. "Health disparities affect group of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group." (Kotch, 2013 pg. 233) 2.

Race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic position are social determinants that lead to disparities in healthcare. Despite declining death rates, African Americans have consistently had higher mortality rates than Whites. For example, breast cancer is more prevalent in whites however the incidence of mortality from breast cancer is higher in black women. Black women are also likely to have more advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis than their White peers. Williams (2002) proposes that racial categories are more alike than different in terms of biological characteristics and genetics. Furthermore, they do not capture patterns of genetic variation. Thus, it is not biologically reasonable for genetic differences alone to play a major role

Health care in Indiana and the United States has received a lot of attention since the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2008. Hoosiers in Indiana and Americans throughout the United States lack health care coverage. One goal all individuals have is obtaining health care coverage suitable for their individual needs. Since the health care reform became a big topic of discussion, health insurance has started to become more available. Between Obamacare and work sponsored health insurance, many Americans are able to have health insurance.

Today, racial and ethnic disparities exist in the public healthcare system in the United States. It is strongly supported by data that depicts members of the minority groups receive disproportionately from different health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma, among other conditions. The main contributors to the racial and ethnic disparities in the public healthcare are the social determinants of the health external to the healthcare delivery system. In addition, social and economic status also affect people’s vulnerability to the disease and their accessibility to public health services. The article provides historical analysis that shows a deteriorating status in the

Governmental agencies influence health policies by influencing the Federal government, State government, and local laws by using population health research studies and interventions studies reported of health disparities. In addition to being well informed with health disparities they have access to investing, research and collecting evidence in assisting them to gather information that can influence health care polices. With each research that is conducted can possibly create new or old policies to be improved and aimed to reduce health disparities.

A notable discrepancy exists between health care received by the black population in comparison to the white population. However, the foundation of health care inconsistencies has yet to be firmly established. Instead, conflicting views prioritize causes of health care disparities as due to social determinants or due to individual responsibility for health (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Emerging literature also indicates that health care providers propagate disparities by employing implicit biases (Chapman, Kaatz, & Carnes, 2013; Dovidio, Fiske, 2012). This paper aims to discuss black health care disparities as a function of socially constructed beliefs that both consciously and unconsciously influence health care professionals practice.

Health care is one of the most controversial and discussed topics in the United States. This is mainly because of the enormous issues that surround this subject matter, such as the goal of creating a greater diversity in the medical professions, the goal to reduce health care disparities, and mainly to improve health care for all. In my personal experience this issues have affected me and my family very closely. As immigrants, I saw my parents struggle with the language, adapting to a new culture and even seeking healthcare. Health care disparities is an imminent issue that affects many of us, including me. On top of the financial struggle my parents faced as immigrants, they also faced the barrier of not being understood. I witnessed how my

Healthcare disparities within racial minority groups are an ongoing issue in the United States. Factors that affect these disparities are overall quality of care, access to healthcare, and access to insurance. Numerous efforts have been made to decrease the access and quality of care for minorities. The current intervention being used is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This act was initiated by President Obama in 2010 and has had much controversy in the past years. The main arguments are the ACA increasing the taxes for Americans and the fact that all Americans must obtain insurance if proper funds are available. In 2014 the ACA Medicaid expanded and each state had the opportunity to expand if the state believed it appropriate. Out of the 50

The status of disparities in 2016 is that many groups face substantial disparities in access to utilizations of care. Minorities face more access barriers and utilize less care then Caucasian counterparts. In many cases minorities are less likely to have routine care visits in the previous year comparison to Caucasian. Additionally, to the barriers of access to care, minorities experience poor experience in health care. It is reported that low-income people of all races report worse health status than higher income status. (Winker, 2006) So, where does the U.S. go from this point forward? What is known we still have a health care disparity that exist and persist in the U.S. While health disparities still are viewed, and reflected in race/ethnicity,

I am writing to you mainly because I am alarmed about the health care system for minorities and their access to it. Health care access and insurance coverage are main causes that contributed to racial and ethnic differences before the ACA success. Most healthcare systems are recognized that black and minority populations have always experienced low wellbeing and difficulties in improving undeniable services. Securing the health gap for people in these population groups is now an important primacy. Groups such as African Americans, American Indians, in addition to other groups like Asians and Hispanics, are in jeopardy of inappropriate benefits of health-care. Health insurance expansions under the ACA, however, have resulted in a net increase of 16.9 million people gaining insurance between 2013 and 2015, allowing millions of previously uninsured individuals to access and utilize health care.

Rural Americans face the struggle of accessing healthcare, both preventative services and also specialty care, here in America. What is the cause most often? Distance. According to a study conducted by Buzza et al (2011), those surveyed believed that distance was perhaps the most important reason for lack of access to healthcare on a variety of the spectrum to include: routine healthcare, emergency care, specialty care, and in some cases diagnostic services. What the study found was that among other things, improved means of getting to said services would in turn, improve access to healthcare services for rural Americans.

Although the United States is a leader in healthcare innovation and spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation, not all people in the United State benefit equally from this progress as a health care disparity exists between racial and ethnic minorities and white Americans. Health care disparity is defined as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social or economic disadvantage…adversely affecting groups of people who have systematically experienced greater social and/or economic obstacles to health and/or clean environment based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion” (National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities [NPAEHD], 2011, p. 3). Overwhelming evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities receive inferior quality health care compared to white Americans, and multiple factors contribute to these disparities, including geography, lack of access to adequate health coverage, communication difficulties between patients and providers, cultural barriers, and lack of access to providers (American College of Physicians,