HEALTHCARE INEQUALITY
Introduction
Healthcare inequalities are the contrasts in terms of the kind of care provisions given to people due to their economic status despite them having similar access to healthcare services. Authors and scholars have defined it as a situation taking place in an economic population where a section of that population is in a worse state of health than the other. In many nations, health inequality comes about by differences in income (Starfield,2018). Various research and studies have confirmed that people getting a high income show better health status than those who earn a low income. It comes about as healthcare services are expensive, and only those who receive a high income can afford the best health services. The main reason for this is that the American healthcare system is dependent on private health insurance.
. The first table contained a graph showing coverage of people in health care with different income earnings. The chart showed an increase in the percentage of healthcare coverage as people’s income reduced. It also showed that the percentage of health coverage was highest in the income between 25000 and 35000 dollars. The second table was a graph representing the top five reasons for people not having health care coverage. The inability to afford premiums was the reason many people presented for not having health care coverage. It was followed by losing jobs or changing employers, followed by arguments of health coverage being too high due to self-employment. The next reason was the lack of employers offering coverage, and the least popular reason was by being healthy people don’t require coverage. The third and final table showed a graph with information regarding the percentage of people’s health status concerning the amount of income they earn. The health status rank was poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. High income had high levels of excellent and very good health status, which reduced as income reduced; also, it had low levels of poor, fair, and good health status, which increased with a reduction in income.
The data from the first graph depicting health care coverage by income, shows middle-income earners earning between 25,000 to 35,000 dollars have the highest number of people getting medical care coverage. The theory behind this is that those middle-income earners are in a position of applying for most of the health care coverage plans as they can afford it. Low-income earners follow in the list of being the next majority of people getting medical coverage as they go for most of the cheaper alternatives of medical coverage.
The theory behind middle-income earners and low-income earners, recording a high percentage in terms of medical coverage, is because they receive inferior health care services. Poor health care services come about as a result of the privatization of the health care systems; as a consequence, health care services are expensive. Expensive medical care means that only the high-income earners are in a position to afford it. From the graph, high-income earners record the lowest percentage of acquiring medical coverage plans, and this comes about as they are in a position of affording quality medical care that is expensive.
The second graph represented the reasons for why people don’t get health care coverage. The reason given by a majority of people was that they could not afford premiums, and this is because most plans are expensive, only catering for the rich. The other reason following it was losing jobs or changing employers, and the understanding is that most people get health care coverage as part of the perks from their jobs. A change in employers would mean the termination of the coverage. The theory behind the next reason is that self-employed people cannot afford the premiums. Employers not offering coverage ranked as the second last reason employers don’t provide coverage plans. As per societal understanding, people rely on employers for medical coverage. The least sought out the reason by few people was on the terms of their perfect health status. The theory behind people thinking that just because they are healthy, they don’t require insurance is due to ignorance. Another reason behind it is people receiving quality health care services, and this is typically for the high-income earners.
The last graph represented the general health status of people as per their earnings. The theory underlying the results is that an individual’s health is dependent on his, her income. High-income earners recorded high levels of either an excellent and very good health status. Low-income earners, on the other hand, recorded high levels of poor and fair health status. The understanding that high-income earners record perfect health status as they can afford quality health care, whereas low-income earners receive poor health services as they are unable to afford quality health care services
Conclusion
From the above findings, low and middle-income earners due to their inability to afford quality health services apply for health care insurance. From the graphs, an individual’s health status is reliant on the income that one gets. The reasons for most people not getting health care coverage include premiums being too expensive and losing jobs. Lastly, high-income earners record excellent health status than their counterparts the low-income earners, and this is because of expensive healthcare services
Reference
Starfield, B. (2018, October 18). The hidden inequity in health care. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3094214/