Healthcare access disparities among uninsured and low-income populations

Scarce Resources

Access to Healthcare: The Solution to This Scarce Resource May Be as Simple as Prevention and Education

Increasingly the government and other agencies are turning their attention toward a growing healthcare crisis. Healthcare for many is becoming a scarce resource. Rising costs coupled with lack of insurance or inadequate attention is forcing individuals to realize a decline in health. This paper will address the causes for scarcity of healthcare and lack of access of healthcare among the population, and present an innovative approach to addressing the problem.

Rapidly rising healthcare costs accompanied by a lack of a national program providing health insurance to every citizen has led to an increasing lack of access to healthcare among citizens (Giffords, et al. 2005). While citizens uniformly feel the impact of rising healthcare costs, evidence suggests women and children with inadequate insurance and individuals of low socioeconomic status or no insurance are most at risk due to the scarcity of healthcare resources and choices available to them. This paper will investigate this scarce resource and attempt to identify a plausible solution to the problem.

Five Influencing Factors

Many factors influence one's access to healthcare. Most notably, these include: (1) whether they have insurance; (2) their socio-economic status; (3) their gender; (4) a lack of knowledge of healthcare services available to them and (4) increasing costs associated with providing insurance and healthcare services to people (Guercia et al., 2005).

Research Data

Data collected from the Long Island Association and Health Access Monitoring Project suggests that in New York; where healthcare is regulated more so than in any other state, more than 3 million residents go without care because they have no insurance (Derrington & Shapiro, 2004; Liska, Brennan & Bruen, 1998). The same report revealed nearly half a million residents are underinsured, thus more likely to skimp on prescriptions or much-needed doctor methods (Liska, Brennan, & Bruen, 1998). Derrington and Shapiro (2004) note that those most affected by scarce resources include children and individuals who live at or below the poverty level.

Creative Solution or Innovation

Guercia et al. (2005) provided a novel solution to the current healthcare crisis by suggesting hospitals and other healthcare agencies receive nonprofit status to encourage more charitable donations and grants of money to these organizations so they can provide charitable care. Individuals who qualify for charity care are more likely to seek healthcare when they need it most.

Derrington & Shapiro (2004) provide some evidence that early intervention may help prevent major healthcare crisis before they happen. This model is perhaps the best model to use to present a new and innovative solution to the current crisis in healthcare. Rather than focusing on intervention and mitigation of symptoms, or controlling disease after it has spread (which only serves to increase the financial burden placed on individuals and healthcare agencies alike), the government should focus its attention on prevention and early intervention. This would require support for universal access and coverage to alternative health providers and education about health the government can require at the youngest ages to help people learn how to best protect themselves from disease before it happens.

Using prevention and early intervention as a model, insurance companies and doctors alike can stop rushing to put out fires and instead educate patients about preventive medicine. Social workers and community representatives can reach out to at-risk populations including youth, minorities, women and those living at or near the poverty level, working to educate them about prevention and simple strategies they can adopt to help preserve their life and livelihood. While a universal healthcare system would be advantages, it is likely Congress is far from implementing such a system. Thus, one must look toward innovative approaches including prevention, which many Eastern societies adopt, to help promote greater health among citizens universally.