Health Care for Underserved Populations, Essay Example

In today’s United States, health access disparities are clearly visible.  Poverty, lack of insurance, and health education disadvantages some groups in the society. Our democracy is aiming to create increased equality, but fails to deliver this promise in different areas. There are currently two opposing views related to health care. The first states that health care is a service that needs to be paid for, just like waste collection. The other view focuses on the universal right of humans to health. According to the latter view, the government and society has an obligation to provide essential health care for all citizens.

Underserved populations have a disadvantage in health care, and this impacts their quality of life. Health disparities are caused by various social and economic differences between groups. Understanding the social, economic, and cultura aspects of low health care access would help policymakers create programs that reduces the gap between different groups.

Poverty is one of the main factors that negatively influences health outcomes, as it restricts people’s health access. Those who are unable to afford health insurance are less likely to attend regular health screenings, or visit the doctor with their symptoms. Social status and living environment are also significant influences of health outcomes. Poverty-struck communities have fewer recreational facilities, and are often living in areas where pollution is high, and housing units are below standard.

I believe that it is the society’s moral obligation to provide basic health care for all citizens, however, policymakers should focus on health literacy delivery and education instead of treatments. It has been proven by several researchers that creating health education programs, providing information, and vaccination are more economical solutions than delivering treatment services to patients who are already ill or suffer from a chronic condition.