Sexual Minority Women

The health of a nation plays an integral part in the overall success and economic well being of a particular country. The United Stated, while pouring more money into the healthcare system than any other country, still stands as a broken system with inadequate care for many citizens. One of the most marginalized groups of people, African American women, continually score alarmingly low on basic measures of overall health. The healthcare discrepancies between white and black women in the United States are alarming, and they reveal flaws in the American health care system as a whole.

Being a minority in the United States has and will possibly always been a struggle. With the economy being in shams and minimum wage becoming career, minorities have multiple issues that society is unaware especially in health care. A large percent of minorities are the majority of workers of America, in which requires the most of the health care distribution. But are they receiving the proper access to health care and prescription access based on their ethnicity/race? Discrimination and racism continue to be a part of the unbalancing inequality in society and have adversely affected minority populations, and the health care system in general. Analyzing some of the racial disparities in health care among Americans are modifications in both need and access. Minorities are most likely to need health care but are less likely to receive health care services, including proper drug access.

Barriers in health care can lead to disparities in meeting health needs and receiving appropriate care, including preventive services and the prevention of unnecessary hospitalizations (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012). In their 2008 annual report, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality lists several disparities’ in health care. They report that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States

Disparities In Care: Case Study 1 Southern Regional Health System try to provide health care to an diverse population in Jackson, Mississippi. Their mission is to provide “excellent quality care for all” and provide care that doesn’t discriminate or is “color blind” (Olden, 2015, pg. 328). One of the central ideas of this establishment is to make the established health care services efficient without disparate. “Understanding the demographic and socioeconomic composition of U.S. racial and ethnic groups is important because these characteristics are associated with health risk factors, disease prevalence, and access to care, which in turn drive health care utilization and expenditures” (National Center for Health Statistics, 2015). Health care disparities include, but not limited

Healthcare inequality mainly revolves around the disparity in the quality of health and health services among different population groups in the society. It touches on the accessibility of health insurance and thus the accessibility of quality healthcare services among the different population groups. There disparities in the access to quality healthcare among the different races and ethnicities, social classes and between the two genders. These disparities are mainly influenced by and are reflective of the differences in access to health insurance among these population groups. These disparities ultimately lead to similar disparities in healthcare services access, health outcomes and the presence of disease among these different population groups. There are several factors that influence access to health insurance and quality health services, referred to as determinants of health among the populations. There are cultural, environmental social and economic determinants to health which create an unfair playing ground for the different population groups in American society. This paper examines the social determinants to health, the extent to which they affect access to health insurance and quality healthcare and ways in which they can be reversed to enable equal access to health insurance and health care services among these populations. The issue of disparities in access to health insurance and by extension access to quality healthcare services is important because it affects

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.

With this increased research and effort, Americans would be able to intervene and make positive impacts with the state, tribal, and local levels to best address health disparities and inequalities. In efforts to thwart ethnic and minority disparities, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) passed the HHS Disparities Action Plan in order to establish “a nation free of disparities in health and health care, (Cooper 97)” and to implement a series of priorities, strategies, actions, and goals to achieve this vision. States, local communities, private organizations, and providers have additionally engaged in efforts to reduce health disparities. With the HHS Disparities Action Plan, the Department continuously assess policies and programs on racial and ethnic health disparities, watching to see which policies make an impact on the level of health care received by minorities. Similarly, The Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage expansions significantly increase coverage options for low and moderate income populations and particularly benefit the “vulnerable populations.” The ACA also includes provisions to strengthen the safety-net delivery system, improve

Many factors contribute to differing racial and ethnic health needs, including culture norms, religious mandates, and health disparities. The health disparities refers to specific differences in disease incidence, health outcomes, quality of health care and access to health care services that exist across racial and ethnic groups (Mandal, 2014). Disparities may result from inadequate access to care, poor quality of care, cultural issues and social determinants.

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,

The disparities are around us every day and unless we educate ourselves and our communities these disparities will continue to wreak havoc on our neighborhoods and in the future, we will just be putting our kids and their kids in a continuing cycle of ignorance when we could have done more if it’s just educating the community we leave in, that alone could be enough to turn the tides in our people favor. In turn, I would hope this paper enlighten you on what is going on in our neighborhood and what we can do to correct this issue to preserve our autonomy. Racial and ethnic health disparities undermine what a healthcare system should stand for. Although the top three causes and seven of the 10 leading causes of death are the same for African Americans and whites, the risk factors and incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates for these diseases and injuries often are greater among blacks than whites (MMWR, 2005). Health disparities refer to differences in disease risks, incidence, morbidity, and mortality but most of all for the sake of this paper unequal access to quality health insurance amongst African American in the United States, which will also go hand and hand with the social and economic disadvantages. The disadvantages of health disparities usually affect people of African American descent who have systemically experienced a greater social and economic obstacle to health care.

Health disparities amongst African-Americans continue to destabilize not just the various communities but the health care system as a whole. Minority groups especially African-Americans are more probable to agonize from certain health illnesses, have higher mortality rates and lower life expectancy than another other race in the nation. Health disparities are complex and incorporate lifestyle choices, socioeconomic factors such as income, education and employment and access to care services. For the elimination of health disparities within the African-American community, there requires a need for equivalent access to health care and cultural suitable health ingenuities.

Terminating the medical care inequalities gap is a problematic, multifaceted task. A study that surveyed 14 racial and ethnic minority subgroups determined that health inequalities could be constricted by providing minorities with better health care coverage, more adequate language skills and assistance, and higher incomes. However, the authors noted that other important factors such as biases, uncertainty in the provision of medical care, and stereotyping would also need to be covered. Ending the disparity gap is not only ethically and professionally imperative, it remains an obvious civil rights inequality that must be addressed. Since the 1990s, federal government, health insurers, and other stakeholders have taken an increased interest in addressing health care inequalities among Hispanics groups. For instance, the Healthy People 2010 initiative highlighted the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities as a prominent public health goal for the next

Disparities in health and health care in the United States have been a longstanding challenge resulting in some groups receiving less and lower quality health care than others and experiencing poorer health outcomes. Hispanics, Blacks, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and low-income individuals are more likely to be uninsured relative to Whites and those with higher incomes. Low-income individuals and people of color also face increased barriers to accessing care, receive poorer quality care, and experience worse health outcomes. The Department of Health and Human Services Disparities Action Plan (HHS) sets out a series of priorities, strategies, actions, and goals to achieve a vision of a nation free of disparities in health and health care.

One issue with underserved populations is an increase in health disparities, not only race and ethnicity, but also gender and age. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2014) list a number of key findings from a report on underserved populations and health care. Mortality rates from certain diseases and different types of death were higher in different racial groups than Caucasians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Morbidity of asthma, oral disease, tuberculosis, obesity, and diabetes were also higher in minority groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Preventive screening for the over-50 population was just over 60%

Health care is necessary for single African American women. Medicaid is one of the commonly used government benefits. Health insurance is unaffordable for most individuals therefore; a family may go without healthcare insurance without a choice because of the financial burden. According to Shi (2008), “minorities may have lower expectations from the