By: Kristopher Franklin
References: North Carolina Justice Center. Financing Health Care for North Carolinians in the Coverage Gap – North Carolina Justice Center. https://www.ncjustice.org/publications/financing-health-care-for-north-carolinians-in-the-coverage-gap/
Presentation Script:
Healthcare should be one of the most essential things in an adult’s life. Anyone should be able to have the ability to seek medical care or even mental support from health professionals whenever it is needed. Access to healthcare in America is a problem that quite frankly gets swept under the rug very often. In North Carolina specifically, lower class citizens struggle to acquire healthcare access due to either the cost or lack of resources. Due to this fact, I began to wonder what solutions can be implemented to give more people access to healthcare in North Carolina?
While doing research on this topic, many pieces of literature lacked the most important part of this problem. The solution. There are tons of papers that could be found that address the issue of healthcare access and break down why it is a problem. Statistics can be found and much more, but not many go the distance to try to develop a plan to fix this issue. My paper will build off research that was made in the past and use it to formulate a realistic solution for the lack of healthcare access in the state of North Carolina specifically. I will use four different sources that each provide a new perspective into the problem at hand. My project will essentially use statistics and previous attempts by the government to construct a realistic solution to limited healthcare in North Carolina.
One of the sources used was How the Affordable Care Act will affect access to health care in North Carolina. The author’s topic of study is the Affordable Care Act and focuses the text on how it improves access to healthcare for citizens. The main argument of the article is that “simply providing insurance coverage does not guarantee access, which depends on a number of additional factors, including the availability, acceptability, coordination, and effectiveness of care” (Ricketts, 2013, 324). By analyzing the Affordable Care Act, I could develop ways to fix what this law couldn’t fix. The Affordable Care Act requires “that most people must have some type of health insurance coverage or pay a penalty” (Ricketts, 2013, 324). This contradicts what the law was put in place for.
Through gathering and analyzing the above information, it is easy to see that access to healthcare isn’t as simple as just going to the hospital for lower class citizens in North Carolina or America as a whole. Furthermore, provide such healthcare isn’t as easy as just passing one law. One solution that I feel could build off the ACA would be to make healthcare free for families that live under a particular salary line. Hopefully this will allow families to eliminate the problem of healthcare being too expensive and move NC in the right direction.
Explication of Research:
Healthcare should be one of the most essential things in an adult’s life. Anyone should be able to have the ability to seek medical care or even mental support from health professionals whenever it is needed. Access to healthcare in America is a problem that quite frankly gets swept under the rug very often. In North Carolina specifically, lower class citizens struggle to acquire healthcare access due to either the cost or lack of resources. Due to this fact, I began to wonder what solutions can be implemented to give more people access to healthcare in North Carolina?
While doing research on this topic, many pieces of literature lacked the most important part of this problem. The solution. There are tons of papers that could be found that address the issue of healthcare access and break down why it is a problem. Statistics can be found and much more, but not many go the distance to try to develop a plan to fix this issue. My paper will build off research that was made in the past and use it to formulate a realistic solution for the lack of healthcare access in the state of North Carolina specifically. I will use four different sources that each provide a new perspective into the problem at hand. My project will essentially use statistics and previous attempts by the government to construct a realistic solution to limited healthcare in North Carolina.
The first source that I analyzed was Health Status and Access to Care for the North Carolina Medicaid Gap Population. The author’s topic of study is North Carolina’s Medicaid gap and how we could reduce it. To test this the researchers “combined annual data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (2013-2016). Respondents who were uninsured and earning below 100% of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG) were classified as falling within the Medicaid gap and were compared to insured populations below FPG, representing the traditional Medicaid population, and to individuals above the FPG, regardless of insurance status” (Spencer, 2019, pg 269-275). The main argument is that the researchers “found that individuals in the North Carolina Medicaid gap report numerous health care access barriers and lower use of preventive care”. (Spencer, 2019, pg 269-275). It was also proven that “compared to either traditional Medicaid or above FPG groups, those in the Medicaid gap were 3 times as likely to have no regular source of care and twice as likely to report delaying needed care due to cost” (Spencer, 2019, pg 269-275). Healthcare is especially a struggle for lower class citizens to receive. These people do not know who to turn to and still get the same response from government officials. People with no healthcare access would rather go without care or treatment then to drown in debt and bills.
The second source that I gathered information from was How Community Health Workers Affiliated with a Program in Greensboro, North Carolina Promote Access to Healthcare in Refugee Communities. The author’s topic of study is promoting healthcare access to refugee communities and people in the lower class that can’t afford it. The main argument is that refugees and people in the lower class need more assistance and attention when it comes to healthcare. “Since 1975, the United States has resettled over 3 million refugees who fled persecution from conflict areas (Mishori, Aleinikoff & Davis, 2017). Regardless of 3 heterogeneity in cultural practices, religion and socioeconomic status, refugees collectively experience adverse health outcomes related to the stress of displacement, trauma and/or torture compared to the general population” (Eluka, 2020, pg 2). This source highlighted that although this information is clearly presented in America, there have not been any improvements to the amount of support refugees get with healthcare access.
The third source used was How the Affordable Care Act will affect access to health care in North Carolina. The author’s topic of study is the Affordable Care Act and focuses the text on how it improves access to healthcare for citizens. The main argument of the article is that “simply providing insurance coverage does not guarantee access, which depends on a number of additional factors, including the availability, acceptability, coordination, and effectiveness of care” (Ricketts, 2013, 324). By analyzing the Affordable Care Act, I could develop ways to fix what this law couldn’t fix. The Affordable Care Act requires “that most people must have some type of health insurance coverage or pay a penalty” (Ricketts, 2013, 324). This contradicts what the law was put in place for. Why pay a penalty for not being able to access healthcare?
The fourth source that I used was Expanding access to health care in North Carolina: the NCIOM Health Access Study Group. The author’s topic of study is about the work of recent North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force. It highlights the achievements and growth made in North Carolina healthcare accessibility over the years between 2007 and 2009. “Compared to other states, North Carolina has experienced the largest percent growth of uninsured due to the recent economic downturn, 22.5% between 2007 and 2009”. (Lichstein, 2009, pg 309). This shows that at the time, the state of North Carolina made an incredible leap in providing healthcare. Although this leap was made, thousands still go without healthcare access.
Through gathering and analyzing the above information, it is easy to see that access to healthcare isn’t as simple as just going to the hospital for lower class citizens in North Carolina or America as a whole. Furthermore, provide such healthcare isn’t as easy as just passing one law. One solution that I feel could build off the ACA would be to make healthcare free for families that live under a particular salary line. This will set a standard that will hold families accountable while also giving the less fortunate an opportunity to receive the same benefits. Hopefully this will allow families to eliminate the problem of healthcare being too expensive and move North Carolina in the right direction.
References
- Jennifer C. Spencer, Alex K. Gertner and Pam Silberman (2019) Health Status and Access to Care for the North Carolina Medicaid Gap Population
North Carolina Medical Journal September, 80 (5) 269-275; DOI: https://doi.org/10.18043/ncm.80.5.269
- Eluka, Nneze Njideka. (2020). How Community Health Workers Affiliated with a Program in Greensboro, North Carolina Promote Access to Healthcare in Refugee Communities. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, DOI: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/how-community-health-workers-affiliated-with/docview/2431023980/se-2?accountid=14244
- Thomas C. Ricketts (2013) How the Affordable Care Act will affect access to health care in North Carolina. North Carolina Medical Journal July, 74 (4) 324-329; DOI: https://doi.org/10.18043/ncm.74.4.324
- Jesse Lichstein, Hugh Holliman, Senator Tony Rand, L. Allen Dobson, Julia Lerche, Mark Holmes and Pam Silberman (2009) Expanding access to health care in North Carolina: the NCIOM Health Access Study Group.
North Carolina Medical Journal July, 70 (4) 309-317.
https://doi.org/10.18043/ncm.70.4.309
Featured image source: