The Forgotten: Uninsured Children

Financial burdens greatly limit the system’s accessibility; however, many in the U.S. are unable to fully utilize either option. Census estimates from 1999 indicate that 43 million Americans live without health insurance even though 75 percent of them have a full-time job or live in a household with at least one member working full-time (Mueller, , 5) In addition to the totally uninsured, census estimates also reveal that approximately 42 million other people in the U.S. are underinsured. This means that they have some insurance, but are still unable to afford all of their needed prescriptions, tests, visits to physicians, or hospital

It is not just the poverty-stricken population that can’t afford insurance. The cost of U.S. health care and insurance is out of reach even for those who do not live in what we technically classify as “poverty”. By the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, poverty

Oppression is the “systematically related pressures” that set barriers for certain people (Frye 7). It is the exploitation and the marginalization of subordinate groups. According to Iris Young 's "Five Faces of Oppression", oppression is also the disdain and powerlessness of these groups. Cultural imperialism creates stereotypes for these people and makes them the "other" for straying from the cultural norm. To less “dominant” and oppressed groups, violence is somehow socially permitted against them because they are the deviants of society (Young 53). In our society, the stigma of disability has been socially constructed and

In the U.S. “Decreasing the number of uninsured is the number one goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which provides Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals” (The Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015, Introduction section). Despite the success of the ACA enrollment of millions of people with health insurance, the most at risk and pressing group of our population is the children. This is a group that needs our attention and their health should be the country’s number one priority. This is a vast difference from Canada, where every child has health care coverage for life because of its Universal Health Care. Bodenheimer and Grumbach (2013) noted that over the years, “reformers in the United States argued for the passage of a national health insurance program, government’s guarantee that every person is insured for basic health care”(p.187). But this effort was not only defeated time and time again, but it was constantly shoved under the rug. It was not until a great effort was pushed by President Obama that we started to see some changes in our health care system. Still a lot of work needs to be done, especially for our children. Stronger measures must be implemented to make sure that every child has an opportunity to live a long and healthy life. This is especially geared towards children living in rural areas, “where access to

First, I will start this paper with the definition of oppression given by Webster Dictionary and also by the social work dictionary. Then, we have that Webster Dictionary defines oppression such as "Unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power especially by the imposition of burdens; the condition of being weighed down; an act of pressing

Vulnerable populations is a term that creates an image of distinct and narrow-minded minority though the vulnerability of every individual to illness, disease, and injury has made health insurance necessary and probable for a huge portion of the American population. Vulnerable populations in the United States includes parents and children of immigrants, race/ethnic minorities, the disabled poor, the elderly, foster children, families ineligible for welfare, prison inmates and former offenders, children with special care needs, and residents of rural areas. However, the uninsured population has developed to become one of the vulnerable populations in the United States because of the risks and dangers associated with the lack of health insurance. As a result of the increased of the number of the uninsured, they have a huge financial impact on the vulnerable population.

As the overall U.S. population experienced increases in unmet need and delayed care between 2003 and 2007, children were no exception. Low-income children encountered the greatest increase in unmet needs among all children and access to healthcare declined more for people in fair or poor health than for healthier people.

However, in states that have not expanded Medicaid, eligibility for adults remains limited, with median eligibility level for parents just 44% of poverty and adults without dependent children ineligible in most cases. Over 3 million poor uninsured adults are in the “coverage gap” because they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to qualify for Marketplace premium tax credits

Not having health insurance makes a difference in people’s access to needed medical care and their financial security. The barriers the uninsured face in getting the care that they need means they are less likely to receive preventive care, are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that could have been prevented, and are more likely to die in the hospital than those with insurance.  The financial impact can also be severe. Uninsured families already struggle financially to meet basic needs, and medical bills, even for minor problems, can quickly lead to medical debt. (McCarter, 2011)

One of the major social problems in the United States is the increasing number of uninsured people who are among the vulnerable populations in the America. In 2008, there were approximately 46 million of non-elderly Americans without health insurance including adults and children. While this population includes people from all age ranges, young adults account for a significant portion of these people since they are likely to be uninsured. Moreover, many uninsured individuals are in families with at least a single full-time worker as Hispanics excessively have the highest rates of the uninsured. However, the huge share of this population is white Americans as compared to people from other races.

The ACA of 2010 has a key goal of increasing access to health care by providing uninsured American’s with options to obtain health insurance. One way this is being done is allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan, up to the age of 26 (HHS, n.d.). Another example is the option for states to expand Medicaid, and receive funding from the federal government to accomplish this. Medicaid covers

In the U.S. “Decreasing the number of uninsured is the number one goal of the Affordable Care Act(ACA), which provides Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015, p.1). Despite the success of the ACA enrollment of millions of people with health insurance, the most at risk and pressing group of our population are our children. This is a group that needs our attention and their health should be the country’s number one priority. This is a vast difference from Canada, where every child has health care coverage for life because of its Universal Health Care. Bodenheimer and Grumbach (2013) noted that over the years, “reformers in the United States argued for the passage of a national health insurance program, government’s guarantee that every person is insured for basic health care”(p.187). But this effort was not only defeated time and time again, but it was constantly shoved under the rug. It was not until a great effort was pushed by President Obama that we started to see some changes in our health care system. Still a lot of work needs to be done, especially for our children. Stronger measures must be implemented to make sure that every child has an opportunity to live a long and healthy life. This is especially geared towards children living in rural areas, “where access to health care is especially low or non-existence” (Rosenblatt & Hart, 2000, p.1).

In our Society, we deal with many form of oppression in our daily lives. Unfortunately, different groups of people are more oppressed than others. Oppression is the unjust treatment of a group of people. I believe, our government is a major culprit as they are responsible for oppressing most of society. This involves many groups, such as single mothers, the working class, African Americans, gays and lesbians. In my paper, my personal views will be addressed incorporating ideas from several readings pertaining to different forms of oppression. A summarization of each article will be provided as well.

high proportion of people without coverage, the inefficient and inequitable incentives for the purchase and provision of insurance, the problems in deciding what should be covered, the ineffective payment incentives, administrative costs and complexities, the variable quality

Children in the United States are also suffering because of the lack of universal health care coverage. While there is coverage for children living at or below the poverty level, there is no coverage available for those children whose parents make too much money to qualify for the low-income programs and too little money to be able to afford health insurance. “These gaps in health insurance coverage may lead to delayed or unmet health care needs among children” (Kim & Viner-Brown, 2007). As a result, these children are less likely to be taken to the doctor for treatment of chronic illnesses like “asthma” or “recurrent ear infections” (Hoffman & Paradise, 2008). It boggles the mind to know that “uninsured newborns, even though they had more severe