340-PR

When responding to at least two of your peers, consider the following:

· Do you agree or disagree with your peers' discussions on the impact of socioeconomics? Why or why not?

· What information shared by your peers surprised you?

· How do the videos shared in the Required Resources section relate to your peers' postings?

· What other aspects of culture might impact this gap in access?

· How are your findings different from your peers? What do you think accounts for these differences?

Peer-AV

The uninsured rate for New Jersey according to the Kaiser Family Foundation is 7.9%. I am very interested in the reasons why some states vary more than others and am looking forward to reading other classmate responses based on their states. 

Socioeconomic status is a major determinant of the quality of care and access to healthcare within our nation and seen greatly within each state.  Individuals with lower annual income and who qualify below or at the FPL (Federal Poverty Level) have reduced access to healthcare. This reduced access to healthcare can be a result of various reasons. Limited resources within the community such as individuals living within inner-cities where ambulatory care centers and hospitals may be scarce. Lack of transportation to physicians or hospitals can be due to inadequate finances to pay for public transportation, gas for vehicles or owning a personal vehicle. Furthermore the quality of healthcare provided can be affected if providers have implicit bias as discussed in the video “Does Racism Play a Role in Health Inequities” by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

New Jersey is one of the most expensive places to live in and yet concurrently there is a vast discrepancy within the state in regards to income and socioeconomic status.  For example there are towns such as Westfield in Union County and Spring Lakes in Bergen County that are wealthy towns that comprise of Doctors, Lawyers, and Surgeons etc. with even the most simplistic houses selling for $500,000 dollars due to the geographical location. However, there are towns such as Newark in Essex county and Elizabeth in Union county that have low income housing, high-crime areas and poor resources. The state of New Jersey has a reputation of affluent residents; however there is a large disparity between the state’s residents.

PEER HB

Today I looked at the percentages of uninsured people in Maine, I just moved here less than a year ago so I also looked at Massachusetts where I lived for the rest of my life before this year. In Maine, the uninsured percentage is 8.1%, while in Massachusetts it is 3.0%. It is interesting to me that Massachusetts rate is so low, while Maine's is about average through out the states. The socioeconomic aspects of these percentages I feel relates mostly to the poverty rate of each state. Also to the access to lower income health insurance and benefits, while in Massachusetts their Medicaid helps lower income families receive health insurance for no to little cost. While in Maine, they have Maine Care which is similar to that of MassHealth but has a lower income acceptance making it harder for people to qualify for Maine Medicaid, causing the rate of uninsured people to be higher than that of Massachusetts and many other states. The cost of health insurance in each state varies and so does the requirements for Medicaid making it harder for families and individuals to be able to afford care.