Social Disparity In Health Care Essay

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Ideally, America’s healthcare system should be a sector in which the fundamental value of equality is practiced to serve and bring wellness to all. Unfortunately, inequitable policies and practices pervade the system, as it does in many facets of the country as a whole. Generally, those who are of the majority and tend to have wealth and status, are often able to afford health care and maintenance. African Americans are a minority who have historically been underserved and as reflected in America’s healthcare system, experience a significant disparity in accessing medical aid, care, services and resources. As a result, susceptibility to disease, morbidity and mortality strike at considerably higher rates in this community than any other race …show more content…
In analyzing the inequality, a critical element in examining prejudice in the healthcare system is socioeconomic status. At the root of socioeconomic disparity in healthcare is funding. African Americans with lower income are often faced with challenges in attaining status, careers and education. They tend to lack access to funds to support and sustain themselves and their families, and often encounter adversity when seeking to attain access to low-cost insurance coverage. While America does not have a national healthcare system, programs such as Medicare and Medicaid tend to be restrictive and sub-par, and less likely to be covered by private insurance (Copeland, 2005), whose entities are structured on profit bearing instead of assistance and affordability. An individual’s economic status is a primary indicator of the community in which they reside, and lower income African Americans are often subject to the resources of the neighborhood that they inhabit. Access to poor eating choices are a major element that influence susceptibility to diseases such as high cholesterol and obesity, and often go unscreened and

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