Evaluating Health Policies That Are Targeted At Health Inequality

The need to distribute wealth amongst the population is another way to promote health equity as it pertains to ensuring that the balance of power is not too one-sided by the rich. Another example of improving the health state is to improve the gap of economic levels by making sure that the poor does not get poorer and the middle class does not become too strained. Lastly, health is dependent on the resources available. If communities are empowered and advocate for change in their health, there is a better chance of improving the health disparities within communities (Adelman, 2008).

Although different societies have varying perceptions of what is an acceptable level of equity, it is generally accepted that inequality has an impact on key social determinants such as health, wellbeing, political trust and violence. Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) highlight the social costs of inequality on a whole range of aspects of our lives. Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) argue that if inequality were reduced, there would be significant reductions in mental illness, murder rates, imprisonment and an improvement in social mobility (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009).

Widening economic inequality in the United States is being accompanied by increasing health care disparity. While the health care system seeks to provide health care as a human right, it fails to do so often worsening the disparities (Dickman, Himmelstein, & Woolhandler, 2017). While health care today has made major strides, there are many people who are still suffering from health care system injustices. Of the people who are still uninsured a majority of them are in the middle-working class or those living in poverty. Poor Americans have less access to health care than wealthy Americans. The life expectancy gap between the rich and poor continues to widen. Health care in poor communities is too often neglected. This issue has been a trend in the United States for many years. In Abraham’s book, Mama might be better off dead these very same inequalities are evident for the Banes family. Because of these inequalities, preventive illness becomes life threatening causing care to then become extensive and even more expensive.

These inequities in health and social indicators are perfect examples of the affect of political and economic factors that influence access to health services (Browne and Fiske 2001).

Income and wealth inequality refers to the degree to which income is unevenly distributed among people in an economy. The share of total income received by different groups measures inequality, this visually represented in the Lorenz curve. The line of perfect equality bisects the graph with the percentage of income

First, there is Jim Taylor, Hospital CEO, District 16; second, Tondra Young, Clinical Lab Supervisor, District 24; lastly, Corey Anderson, Floor Technician, District 21. The population of each district decreases in average income, education level and life expectancy than its preceding district, beginning with district 16, Jim Taylor’s district. District 16 has an average combined household income of approximately $120,000/ annually. In this district, 65% of the population has a college degree and the life expectancy in this district is 82 years. Whereas, Tondra Young’s district, district 24, has an average combined household income of $70,000/annually and 15% of the population has a college degree. The life expectancy of district 24 is 75 years, that’s 7 years less than district 16. In district 21, Corey Anderson’s district, the average combined household income is less than $50,000/ annually and only 5% of the districts population have college degrees. Consequently, the life expectancy of district 21 is 70 years, 5 years less than district 24 and 12 years less than district 16 (Adelman 2008). The results of this study are indisputable: there is an obvious correlation between social/economic status and health status. As each districts average income and education level decrease, average life expectancy coincides. This leads to the next question: why does social and economic status so greatly influence health status?

Explain patterned inequalities in health and illness. Evaluate sources of evidence with regards to class, gender, ethnicity and age

Health status improves at each step up the income and social hierarchy. High income determines living conditions such as safe housing and ability to buy sufficient good food. The healthiest populations are those in societies which are prosperous and have an equitable distribution of wealth.

Krieger, N., Chen, J. T., Waterman, P. D., Rehkopf, D. H., & Subramanian, S. V. (2005). Painting a Truer Picture of US Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Health Inequalities: The Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project. American Journal Of Public Health, 95(2), 312.

Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience health inequalities than people in higher socio-economic classes. Health inequalities are not only found between people of different

The United States is world renowned for having the best health care if not the most accessible. Citizens have at their disposal a plethora of hospitals, physicians, and therapists to improve their well-being. Statistical data was taken back in 2010 under the Central Texas Region and studied health care coverage and income in regards to the community. The data displayed in the surveys heavily suggest that income/ health in general have a high correlation. The issue that arose with the given data imply that those who are on the lower end of the income spectrum subsequently have no health care coverage and poorer health than those with higher income. In any case with high correlation there are a number of factors influencing the statistical evidence, and in this case sociological barriers are present in regards of inequality and health care.

Because the child is from the inner-city, she may not have had equal access to quality healthcare and adequate resources for deaf children, which has hindered her from learning official sign language. In the USA, many children that are deaf do not receive “equal access to care, intervention, and follow-up services” (Sacks et al., 2014, p. 92). Socioeconomic, minority status and non-English native language are barriers to children having access to various types of services and health care that produce favorable developmental outcomes (Sacks et al., 2014).

This article investigates the question, “ How is the relationship between inequality in income and mortality analyzed in the United States?” The authors do not clearly state any hypotheses. Particularly, the study used data from the 1980 and 1990 census as well as cumulative percentage distribution, discovering the interval enclosing the desired centile, and linear interpolation. The authors looked at the scale of income inequality, the variable, in 50 states in 1980 and 1990 of different age groups by the percentage of total household of both genders’ income collected by the underprivileged 50% of households.

Empirical studies have applied different indices to various health variables one of these variables are health financing indicators (Erreygers et al. 2012). Most commonly used income inequality measures are generalized entropy indices and the Atkinson index. These indices have an ability to examine the effects of inequalities in different areas of the income spectrum, enabling more meaningful quantitative assessments of qualitatively different inequalities (Maio 2003). First group of inequality measures are family of entropy measures. Theil and The Mean Logarithmic Deviation (MLD) are members of family of entropy measures. Theil index derives from the notion of entropy in information theory. It is a measure that assess the value of different

Finally, Plot the cumulative percentage of population against cumulative percentage of wealth. In this case, the line will bow away from the line of absolute equality. The more unequal the society is, the further it will deviate away from the line of absolute