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Delayed Access To Healthcare

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Although developed nations have healthcare available sometimes its impossible to have access to it. One thing almost all developed nations have in common with each other is that healthcare is never free. Some nations require citizens to pay more and some may require less, but there is always a price. The United States is a perfect example of this, the financially wealthy benefits most from our healthcare system while our more vulnerable populations that’s living in poverty have little to no benefits from our healthcare system at all. This then affects the diseases most prevalent in within each community and between developed and developing nations. Access to care also affects how those diseases or infections spread, the poor tends to get sicker …show more content…

Without access to healthcare one cannot see primary care physicians, receive preventative screenings or education on potentially harmful habits. One can only hope they remain healthy, and if not they hope to get better on their own without the help of physicians because it’s unaffordable. This is where delayed access to healthcare plays an important role. Preventable and easily treatable diseases become chronic and patients become very ill. Some receive some sort of treatment but sometimes at that point it’s too late, because their access to healthcare was delayed. According to the article Delayed Access to Health Care: Risk Factors, Reasons, and Consequences “Cost was an important factor in delaying care for patients in lower socioeconomic positions; the odds of delaying care because of cost for patients who were both poor and uninsured were 12 times greater than the odds for other patients” (Weissman, Stern, Fielding & Epstein 1991). As stated before there is a higher mortality rate in lower class communities for most diseases compared to the upper class, because chances are the disease had progressed too far along to be treated or even potentially prevented. If one community is continually suffering because of their lack of access to healthcare due to socioeconomic factors then of course it’s going to be a very big role in driving the …show more content…

Those who do have access to it have insurance or can afford to pay out of pocket, both however requires money in the United States. This is huge contributor in the dividing communities, causing people to speculate whether racial differences play a role as well. The only way to have complete access to our health care one must have insurance or must be able to pay out of pocket for the services they need. Having health care and not having health care is become a large divide between socioeconomic groups. These groups differ in the types of diseases are most prevalent in each community. For example the leading cause of death in one group maybe cardiovascular disease but in another group the leading cause of death could be HIV. Access to health care also affect how each socioeconomic can be affected by the same disease. It might be considered a major threat to one community and minor threat to another. Overall we can never truly feel as one as a nation but as separated due to the inequalities of our health care

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For decades, a person’s socioeconomic status or SES has affected the health care that people receive due to race and “wealth”. This problem has plagued American society because of these factors leading to many receiving inadequate health care. All of these factors for someone’s SES, has changed a lot in the health care domain that is unfair to many who are not the “ideal” and are a minority. Due to this the perception, experiences with health care waver and are different between the stages of these SES’s. No matter the status of a person they should receive the same amount of care, treatment, and closer.

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Developed countries around the world have embraced the universal healthcare, with America being the only exception. Access to healthcare is considered one of the most important things for the progress of a country. However, many people in America consider that the healthcare system in the country is quite inefficient. It is estimated that more than 45 million Americans have no medical insurance.

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Health disparities; i.e. a difference in health among segments of population based on the social determinants of health have a significant impact on the individuals health status and their ability to access healthcare services. Although the overall health of the United States population has improved, large disparities in terms of health outcome and access to healthcare exist between wealthier Americans and their “poorer counterparts primarily because of differences in education, behavior, and environment. Higher incomes permit people to buy healthier food; live in safer, cleaner neighborhoods; and exercise regularly” (Longest, 2015, p8). Over the last two decades, the public health community’s attention has placed lots of emphasis on addressing the non-medical factors, such

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A link between poverty, low educational attainment and poorer health outcomes with increased morbidity and mortality is well established (Causes of Health Disparities, n.d.). Also, certain religious practices may not allow one person to obtain the believed cure or care needed to prevent certain illnesses and diseases. A lack of income and low educational attainment decreases one 's chances of having quality access to healthcare. If one is not able to afford health care or is ignorant to what the health care field has to offer, illness and disease may build up over time, increasing chances for a health disparity. Gender and age could also cause one not to want to obtain health care, furthermore decreasing their health.

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The minority groups are more likely to say that they are in fair or poor health than white people (Hurst 257). Studies show that white women have a higher life expectancy compared to white men and black women (Hurst 257). Income effects the mortality rates also. People with more income from different sources have lower mortality risks (Hurst 258). This is important to know because these factors all weigh in on the issue of inequality in health care.

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This implies that disparities in health continue to exist despite the efforts of the health care systems to provide patients similar access to care, which according to Woolf, and Braveman (2011), suggests that disparities originate outside the formal health care setting. The authors concluded that environmental and social variables especially income and education are often the underlying causes of illnesses and are key to understanding health

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Expanding accessibility to affordable healthcare insurance is one way in which our country can begin to increase healthcare that is patient and family centered. One reason for existing disparities are the expenses associated with seeking healthcare. For some people, while the actual monthly payments of their health insurance is affordable, patients still face high deductibles or high out of pocket maximums. By making health insurance attainable for the majority of Americans, this alone is only the first step toward reducing some of the existing health disparities. Money alone is a factor that can deter people from seeking preventive treatment and screenings.

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Health Care in the US is arguably available to all who seek it but not everybody has had the same experience and treatment when walking through the doors of a healthcare facility. In many cases, people are discriminated against due to their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income and are often provided with minimal service. Differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care is majorly affected through these disparities. Income is a major factor and can cause groups of people to experience higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality relative to another group.

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To exemplify this fact, imagine a time before preventative health screenings were available; SES could not be tied to access to care, because these did not exist. For conditions where medical advances have been made that now provide treatment and prevention, overall mortality decreased while SES and race gradients shifted toward greater mortality for less fortunate groups (Phelan, Link, & Tehranifar, 2010). The Fundamental Cause Theory’s basic principle described by Phelan (2010) states, “a superior collection of flexible resources held by higher SES individuals and the collectivities to which they belong allow those of higher SES to avoid disease and death in widely divergent circumstances”. This theory argues that those with more resources, whether it is money, knowledge, power, etc., have better access to healthcare, and will die less often from preventable disease. Lower SES individuals experience several ways in which their social class impacts their health: less access to healthcare, poor behavior and lifestyle habits, and exposure to harmful environmental toxins.

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The lack of financial resources can be a big problem to access to health care. The lack of available finance is a barrier to health care for many Americans but access to health care is reduced most among minority populations. The irregular source of care is another reason why access to health is a disparity. Compared to white individuals ethnic or racial minorities are less likely to be able to visit the same doctor on a regular basis and tend to rely more on clinics and emergency rooms (News Medical Life Sciences). 5.

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Healthcare is important because it enables people to be physical, mentally, and physically fit. It ensures that people have a good quality of life and are productive individuals in the society. However, the dream of high-quality healthcare for all is still a mirage. The discussion aims to examine the racial and the socioeconomic inequalities and examine their effect on the delivery of healthcare in the society.

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if a person social class or race affects their health and well being that would mean people lower class or lower ethnic group would suffer from shorter life expectancies, more health issues, and more issues in any health care system their apart of. for example in the cases of illegal immigrants in the united states heath care system there are many cases of these undocumented immigrants not reporting life threatening injuries in fare of being deported. We know that, across the world, socioeconomic status is a powerful predictor of health. In fact, it’s a more powerful predictor of health than genetics or medical care or cigarette smoking. Now, why is that important to our discussion of race?

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Vulnerable populations are those with a greater risk of developing health conditions. These groups may have difficulty accessing healthcare because of sociocultural status, limited economic resources, geographic, or characteristics such as age, gender (****). This separation puts members of these groups at risk for not obtaining necessary medical care and thus creates a possible threat to their health. Vulnerable populations include some group like chronically ill, people with HIV/AIDS, mentally ill and disabilities, substance abusers and homeless groups population. For example, disadvantaged and poor working individuals who are unable to obtain health care due to their immigrant status also ethnic minority groups, typically discriminated against even though they have successful careers, higher education and

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