Why Patients Lack Health Insurance Coverage

Many people are seriously ill when they seek treatment because they lacked enough money in their insurance for treatment (Bush, 2015). Although people have reported general satisfaction with their health plans under PPACA, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey has revealed that affordability is a concern for those who buy their own health insurance. 46% of those with both ACA-compliant and noncompliant plans reported it was “very” or “somewhat” difficult for them to afford their monthly health insurance premium (Medical Economics, 2015). Cost of care has been a longstanding barrier to care for minority groups. The survey did not find an improvement in Blacks and Asians skipping care due to cost concerns. (Pallarito, 2015).

It is no secret that the cost of American healthcare is becoming increasingly more expensive. However, the issue of the rising cost of healthcare and its severity needs to be recognized as a major problem. Health prices are steadily increasing in the United States, and there is no sign of it stopping. Since 1970, spending on American health care has grown 9.8%, which is a rate that is growing faster than the economy (“New Technology”.) Furthermore, health insurance premiums are also increasing at a rate five times faster than American salaries, which makes it difficult for families to afford health care coverage (Zuckerman 28). Therefore, it has become an obligation to address why the cost of American health care is soaring and to seek out a solution to lower the cost. Many would jump to the conclusion that the United States simply charges too much for their medical services, but there are deeper influences that need to be analyzed. The causes of the rising cost of health care are people not using preventive health care, the development of modern technology, and the treatments being overprescribed. A possible solution is to have preventive health care services available in clinics of low-income areas.

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

Financial barriers to access health care are common in a low-income family when they are uninsured or underinsured. Many uninsured and undocumented immigrant received federal and state health care coverage. Latinos and African American are the ethnicities that are disproportionally get affected. Limited access to a doctor when they are sick, taking non-prescribed medication and holding off recommended treatment is only some of the problems they encountered (Carrillo et al., 2011).

Many people are reluctant to seek medical attention due to fear of costs and causing more financial constraints. Most especially for individuals or families who have to choose between paying rent and securing their meals, in which case, diabetes (or other diseases for that matter) is not seen as an imminent threat, therefore it is not a priority. While some may have health coverage, they may not have the advantage to cover co-payments for the visit, medications, diagnostics, or other treatments.  Second, language barrier and other discriminations contribute to health disparity. Because they are unable to communicate their concerns and in fear of judgment, language/discrimination discourages people from seeking medical help— the assumption that they (minorities) will be treated unfairly or not given enough or of equal treatment. Undocumented individuals are also less likely to seek help in fear of being caught. Lastly, the issue of cultural disconnection— in this dimension,  participants admitted to the fear creating a stigma and receiving negative feedback from their providers (who only favor biomedical treatments).  There is fear of being an object of ridicule and rejection if they admit to the use of alternative medicines and remedies. Fear of reporting use of other remedies may adversely affect provider’s recommended regimen. In considering these social and economical factors, people become chronically ill and progressively worse until the situation becomes acute and no longer manageable. These dimensions, and other contributing factors, place limitations and restrictions in individual’s power to make health decisions, and inevitably create health disparities. Page-Reeves and others state, “ although disparity can take many forms, health disparities can be understood as one of the most concrete manifestations of inequity, often  determining who will live and who will die— with the poor and immigrants suffering

Recently the Untied States top priority has been to provide accessible and affordable health care to every American. Those that lack access to coverage find it much more difficult to seek proper treatment and when they do they maybe left with astronomical medical bills. The CommanWealth Fund found that one-third or thirty three percent of Americans forgo health care because of costs and one-fifth or twenty percent are thus left with medical bills that have problems being able to pay. The federal government, through the Affordable Care Act (2010), has mandated that every person have health coverage in order

Socioeconomic status is a health disparity in the United States. In 2012, McHenry concluded that there are approximately 84,000 preventable deaths that occur each year. Although the ACA has provided accessible health care to many people that would otherwise not be able to afford health insurance there still is a large population uninsured (Brown & Divenere, 2017). African Americans have a high prevalence of

Many Latino focus group participants went without needed care because they were uninsured and could not afford the out‐of‐pocket costs ("Community Health Needs Assessment," 2012).

In today’s society, there is still a great struggle with health care disparities and many lives are affected by the lack of this fundamental program in our society. There are millions of people who die each year because they are unable to afford quality healthcare. The debate still continues about healthcare inequalities, what causes this disparity and who are affected by it. Health care is more of a necessity rather than a luxury and even though skeptics may argue to the latter, it only underlines the importance of the need for the wellbeing and care of individuals. There are several factors that could contribute to the lack of health care in the United States which ranges from but not limited to race, gender, socio- economic status, and lack of insurance coverage. The truth is there is a great disproportion between who can really afford quality healthcare as appose to individuals who have it. One would imagine that an employed individual would easily afford quality healthcare but we could be no further from the truth, since one’s economic status is an essential determinant to its affordability.

This is a paper about the issues involving uninsured Americans and what we can do to improve healthcare in America.

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ‘Obamacare’ in 2010 and its implementation in 2014,there has been a steady decline in the uninsured population of the United States of America. The number of Americans with health insurance, has reached a historic peak. According to recent data from the Census Bureau about health insurance coverage, the number of uninsured Americans fell from 33 million the year prior to ACA implementation to 29 million in 2014.The total uninsured rate dropped by more than 4 percent since the health care law took effect. The ACA has significantly reduced the number of Americans who were not able to acquire health insurance due to poverty, unemployment, or having a pre-existing condition.

In the current U.S. system the free market prevails and companies, in this case, major insurance providers “compete” for business. This competitive business approach should in theory drive costs down. For some reason, however, an argument can be made that it has produced the opposite result in profiteering. The nation’s largest insurer, UnitedHealth, boasted over a 10 percent revenue increase in 2013 according to Forbes (2013). Health insurance affordability contributes to the disparity in access to health care, as evidenced by the fact that there are millions that are still uncovered. A greater majority of certain minorities lack both health insurance and the financial resource to seek out either health care or insurance. While insurance companies reap huge profits the percent of private sector companies offering health insurance has dropped to less than 50 percent (Kaiser, 2013). There is decidedly a lack of coordination of care for this at risk population as well, since treatment is rendered sporadically and with continuously changing providers. The last major challenge is that of improving the quality of health care. According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), an estimated 13.5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse events during their hospital stay and an additional 13.5 percent experienced a temporary

Within the United States some populations groups face greater challenges then the general public with being able to access needed health care services in a timely fashion. These populations are at a greater risk for poor physical, psychological, and social health. The correct term would be underserved populations or medically disadvantaged. They are at a disadvantaged for many reason such as socioeconomic status, health, and geographic conditions. Within these groups are the racial and ethnic minorities, uninsured children, women, rural area residents, mentally ill, chronic illness and the disabled. These groups experience greater barriers in access to care, financing of care, and cultural acceptance. Addressing these

Lack of doctors is only one facet to this multifaceted problem. Accessibility in terms of having the financial resources to obtain care is another. “Individuals in lower social status groups have the highest rates

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States