Preview

Ethnic Health Disparities

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3483 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethnic Health Disparities
American Public Health Association

NOVEMBER 2008

Evaluating the
Economic Causes and Consequences of Racial and Ethnic
Health Disparities
Kristen Suthers, PhD, MPH

R

acial and ethnic health disparities are differences in health status driven by social inequities. While most agree that disparities in health are a social justice issue, underlying economic issues that exacerbate these differences have not been recog-

nized. This paper dissects the economic costs of disparities first, at the individual level in terms of adverse impacts on employment and greater out-of-pocket health care expenditures, and second, at the population level by evaluating costs to government and business. We also make the case that the adverse
…show more content…

The second section will describe the impact health disparities have at the societal level, such as the economic consequences of racial and ethnic health disparities to the larger
Indeed, uninsured population: increased competition for resources, lost patients are often labor productivity and greater spending for all taxpayers. charged more than
It should be noted that this report serves as a primer rather than an exhaustive analysis of the econominsured patients for ics of health disparities. While it will touch on the the same care, a broad economic consequences of health disparities, poor health and economics are inextricably linked in practice known as
America in far more subtle ways than this report will
‘discriminatory pricing.’ document and warrant further study in future reports.
Discriminatory pricing results when uninsured patients are billed the full gross charge while insured patients receive substantial discounts. Part I: The Economic
Impact of Health
Disparities on Individuals and Communities
I. Lost income and labor productivity.

Racial and ethnic minorities suffer a
…show more content…

Conclusions: The Costs of Health Disparities
Can Be Reduced.
While barriers to eliminating health disparities exist, measures can be implemented to begin to turn the tide.
Researchers have found that health care organizations that partner with community stakeholders can improve availability and quality of health care in under-served neighborhoods. The CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the United States (REACH) program has found community partnerships to be an effective strategy to improve quality of care and reduce disparities. While the return on investment for businesses who invest in employee health promotion may not be immediately apparent, researchers argue that continued efforts to reduce health disparities will become the norm over time, therefore improving the ratio of returns to costs in the future.
This report has explored some of the economic costs at both the individual and the societal level that result from the injustice of racial and ethnic health disparities. Some of the issues that have been discussed include


You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The topic is relevant because there is a large gap between what can be offered by medicine and what is actually offered to people of color. Investigating the reasons for the existence of health disparities allow for the proposal of solutions to reduce them.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are vast differences in the health of minority populations in comparison to non-minority populations. These variations in health consist of external and internal elements, such as access to health education and care, stigmas associated with health treatment, and lack of culturally diverse health leaders. Deviations between the quality of health of minority populations is detrimental to the productivity of society. Minority health disparities have caused significant economic losses and have dampened the productivity of minority populations.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article read, “Challenges to Using a Business Case for Addressing Health Disparities”, the authors discuss in detail the disparities in health care. They use the business case and social cases of health care disparities to compare and contrast. They describe, in detail, the challenges being faced when trying to address the issues and improve the problems being faced. They also describe why some of the solutions being explored could do more damage than good.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racial and ethnic problems when it comes to health and health care interventions is one health disparity. In the health care system the lack of proper data on race and ethnicity has become a problem in the quality of care. Self reported data can take years and requires changes to an already complex infrastructure. However some health plans and hospitals started collecting their own race/ethnicity data and have detected disparities. This has seriously delayed the developement of interventions. Information is not properly obtained, therefore there is no…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Healthy People 2020 defines a health disparity as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage” (ODPHP, 2016). Health…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In summary, this online seminar entitled Unequal Treatment presented by Brian Smedley, Michell Van, and Linda Rae Murray was about the health disparities in the United States. During his presentation, Brian mentioned that the minority group have the worst health outcome compare to White people due to unequal access, and poor-quality care. Despite the introduction of the Affordable Care Act that has allowed many uninsured to have health insurance, people of color, especially African- Americans, still have the highest rate of insurance compare White Americans. Even those who have health coverage among the minority still facing other barriers, including economic, cultural, geographic, and linguistic that stop them to have access to a proper care.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status are used to characterize health disparities globally. Thirty years ago, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Margaret M. Heckler, created a taskforce to examine health concerns of Blacks and other minority populations in the United States 1. The Heckler Report advocated for changes in the Federal Government’s approach to addressing health disparities. Following dissemination of the Heckler Report, a number of books, manuscripts, and policies were published to bring attention to a systemic lack in health equity among physicians across the U.S.. Lack of health equity ultimately leads to unequal treatment of diverse patients and contributes to the growing disparities seen in national health. In response to these growing disparities, in 2002, the Kaiser Family Foundation examined physicians’ perceptions of disparities and noted that physician gender and race had an impact on whether the physician believed that disparities…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The purpose of this study is to discuss disproportionate representation. What it means and who it affects most will be identified. Contributing factors such as socioeconomic status and race and ethnicity will also be discussed. Possible solutions in the form of equity and early intervention will be discussed as well. Lastly with these factors identified, it is the hope that feasible and probable solutions can be reached or at least recommended.…

    • 2572 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Address the health disparity among different segments of the population for the selected focus area.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the past decade a rapidly expanding body of literature has demonstrated the existence of healthcare disparities. While consensus has not emerged regarding the causes of disparities, they are generally thought to be related to provider, patient, and healthcare system factors. On the one hand, the current US healthcare system is oriented toward individualized acute care. Yet healthcare disparities by definition are a population level phenomenon. Individuals do not have disparities, groups and populations do.…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of health disparities Of the causes of healthcare disparity, the most common are social and economic factors such as the level of education and the employment status both of which are great indicators of the likelihood of poverty among individuals hence their ability, or otherwise, to access healthcare services from the available facilities. Gender and ethnicity are also key determinants of healthcare disparities with Blacks and Hispanics generally more likely to face discrimination in access to healthcare services, claims the National Centre for Health Statistics (2016). This is even worse for Black and Hispanic women. Q4. Reasons for disparities in access to health…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Professional Dynamics

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2011. 1. Print. Retrieved from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=30…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The overall health and quality of life has improved for most Americans over the past few decades. However, good health is usually associated with an individual’s economic status, demographics, and ethnicity. It should be no surprise that minorities in the United States receive unequal treatment from the healthcare system. On the contrary, it is well known that many illegal immigrants are able to obtain free medical services as soon as they enter this country. This essay will analyze the many disparities in the healthcare system and strategies for making improvements.…

    • 3099 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American College of Physicians (ACP) provides evidence that minorities do not continuously obtain the equal quality of health care, equal access to health care, are less among the health professions and have poorer health status than non-minorities. (Groman & Ginsburg 2004), ACP finds the disparities in the healthcare of racial and ethnic minorities to be a major problem in the U.S. health system and is dedicated to working toward eliminating all disparities in health care by addressing the issue on 6 fronts: increasing access to quality health care, patient care, provider issues, systems that deliver health care, societal concerns, and continued research. ( Page. 226). Undoubtedly, one of the missions of the ACP is to eliminate racial…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays