Healthcare And Inequality
Societal inequality is a vital contributor to the difficulties that people with few resources face in accessing healthcare in the United States (Wilkinson, 2006). Whitehall study did investigate the health conditions of individuals at different societal levels. Their conclusion is that individuals at the end of the list have the highest health risk. Cited reasons include living standards, level of education, and other societal dynamics (Wilkinson, 2006). However, the study fails to indicate that low-income earners have challenges of accessing healthcare because of affordability. Many poor people cannot afford insurance premiums. Medicaid is a program likely to assist the country in acquiring universal health (Rogers, 2000). It is, however, vital that the government deals with the societal inequalities inhibiting healthcare access to eradicate the problem entirely.
Studies indicate that poor individuals are at greater health risk than their counterparts that are a rich. According to the Whitehall study, there are high mortality rates among the poor citizens because of coronary complications relative to rich citizens. Some of the reasons that citizens in the United States that are poor are a health risk include nutrition and social-political conditions (Wilkinson, 2006). Medicaid intends to deal with the disparity that exists between the rich and the poor. However, studies indicate that only few states in the country are likely to implement this provision. This has the meaning that poor citizens risk not having adequate access to medical attention.
There are also indications according to the Whitehall study that individuals within a certain occupation tend to have similar characteristics. That is social distinctions have implications on the health of individuals. The poor have high levels of stress and consequently have high levels of cortisol release. Cortisol has an effect of reducing the immune system. This means that poor people release more cortisol and eventually, reduce their immune system. Immune system reduction increases the chances of contracting ailments. In accordance, poor people are at higher health risk than their rich counterparts.
Whitehall studies concentrated on the social dynamics that contribute to poor health among poor citizens. Studies, however, indicate that poor citizens in a country have limited access to healthcare (Wilkinson, 2006). This was one aspect that the studies conducted in the United States by the Whitehall study failed to document. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that despite the fact that societal dynamics do contribute to the health complications among the poor, difficulty in accessing health facility is another risk (Kaplan, 2005). In the United States, more than 30 million people are poor, and have a difficult of accessing care because of lack proper insurance due to financial constraints.
The inability of many individuals with few resources to maintain their health is a problem. This is because much insurance and medical care providers are not willing to offer services to poor because of the cost effectiveness of the practice (Rogers, 2000). In accordance, the poor have to seek assistance from programs such as Medicaid. If some of the states decide not to adopt Medicaid, then more citizens will be at health risk.
There are various ways to reduce health risks, but the most basic is ensuring that all individuals access medical care regardless of their social status. United States government should channel resources at ensuring that all Americans do have access to medical care (Barkan, 2011). Medicaid is one of the largest insurance programs, which aims to provide the poor with adequate medical access. The government should strengthen the program and ensure that all states within the nation do adopt the program (Barkan, 2011). This is because of its ability to deal with the problem of accessibility of healthcare to all individuals.
Despite programs such as Medicaid providing universal access to medical care, there still exist disparities in the access of health based on income (Barkan, 2011). For the purposes of eradicating the problem, it is critical that the government does deal with inequalities existing within the economy. Disparity in income is, obviously, one of the major contributors to the problem of accessing healthcare. Some of the proposals is developing a program that will adequately address the uninsured. In addition, advancing community resources will also contribute immensely towards the eradication of health care access inequalities. In accordance, eradication of social inequality is the only possible solution towards attaining universal access to health and eradicating access inequality.
Studies indicate that there are 30 million poor people in the United States. According to Whitehall and other studies, the poor have difficulty-accessing healthcare (Kaplan, 2005). In most cases, societal inequalities are the reasons that the poor are a higher health risk than the rich. Initially, only homicide had a direct relation to inequality, but statistics indicate that mortality also relates to inequalities. In accordance, and according to data, the poor in the United States have the highest health risk (Barkan, 2011). This has the meaning that the government has to come up with ways of dealing with the problem of societal inequalities. Eradication of societal inequality will assist in dealing with access to health care.
References
Barkan, S. E. (2011). Sociology: Understanding the Changing Social World. New York: Flat World Knowledge, L.L.C.
Wilkinson, R. G. (2006). The impact of inequality. London: Routledge.
Rogers, D. E. (2000). Medicare and the Poor. Boulder: Worldview Press.
Kaplan, G. A. (2005). Income Inequality and Mortality: Importance to Health of Individual Income. British Journal 320.
