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Health Care Inequalities

Paula Andrea Estrada

 

Health Care Inequalities

Among all the different racial and ethnic groups, some the biggest health disparities often stem from financial and social conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has emphasized that an individual’s lifestyle, including work and play can significantly contribute to their health and well-being. Over time, these conditions can influence and potentially determine the level of health needs, risks, and, ultimately, outcomes an individual might experience (Jones, 2020). African Americans, Hispanics, and other minority groups sometimes lack the necessary resources during emergencies when it comes to public health. As a result, they are unable to adequately prepare, respond, and survive during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Jones, 2020). Statistics currently state that more than half of the COVID-19 patients in the US are African Americans (Johnson & Johnson, 2020). To make matters worse, in a study recently conducted in New York, the death rate among African Americans, Latinos, and Whites was 92.3, 74.3, and 45.2 deaths per 100,000 (Jones, 2020). Other social and environmental factors that impact the health disparities include the living conditions, access to care, underlying or pre-existing health conditions, and financial security to afford quality healthcare (Jones, 2020). Overall, these are just some of the factors that currently make up the Social Determinants of health (SDOH).

The social determinants of health are the physical, social, environmental, geographical, and economic conditions that impact the aspects of overall health and health outcomes (Jones, 2020). When individuals and communities are adequately equipped with the necessary resources, there is a significantly higher standard of well-being and general health stability (specially in times of crisis) for the population in those areas. These resources include, but are not limited to affordable housing, job security, fair wages, well-implemented school systems, and public safety. It goes without saying that access to better food options, such as affordable organic produce and even safer household products is one of the resources that directly affects a community’s health and one that all communities in the United States should have access to by now (Snowden & Graaf, 2020). Unfortunately, African American communities currently still lack a majority of these resources; a high percentage of them currently living within the poverty wage, limiting their access to quality healthcare and even insurance coverage. During COVID, many of these individuals faced limited access to personal protective supplies, paid time off, or sick leave, forcing them to show up to work despite the prevailing conditions in their attempt to make ends meet (Jones, 2020).

One area that needs continued reform and attention is the economic inequality in the US. It has been observed that almost every chronic condition follows a predictable pattern of increased incidence and prevalence with reducing or low income; some of these most commonly include arthritis, heart disease, and stroke. The life expectancy gap between the poor and rich has been widening rapidly over the last four decades (Dickman et al., 2017). Compounded with the government dismissing evidence of disparities, the situation is only expected to worsen for those on the poverty end. Economic inequalities affect the general public’s access to health care, insurance coverage, medications and treatments, and even quality of medical personnel among other key health issues. A common example of the consequences happens when the uninsured are more likely to forgo needed medical visits, treatments, and medications because of the costs, leading the community-wide consensus that good health is simply unattainable to them (Dickman et al., 2017). On the bright side, the Affordable Care Act has been a great attempt to close the gap on some of the health disparities among African Americans and low-income communities, especially in regards to Medicaid insurance and access to more health providers in many areas in grave need (Dickman et al., 2017). However, on a large scale, the US still has a long way to go to reduce the health care inequalities experienced by so many today.