Researchers have initiated their plans and efforts in studying Insurance-based discrimination. They ought to find out how rates of successful treatments and deaths vary between the poor and rich and other groups. Sources have it that 28.9 million Americans are affected by this form of discrimination, besides it is also reported that other people with insurance covers have been discriminated (Dworkin, 2019). This is attributed by individual decisions in foregoing medical care to other important needs like transportation and housing. Similarly, people with lower incomes and less education status contribute to their uninsured status. As such, this paper discusses the insurance-based discrimination that continues to plague the quality in health care.
For a long time, racism-based discrimination has been considered as the only concern in health care institutions. In comparison to the whites, it has been established that indeed blacks and other marginal groups in the U.S do experience extra diseases, poor outcomes, and more premature death. Shockingly, insurance discrimination is more common and worse. Many patients claim that they are treated worse by physicians if they have little public plans or insurance covers like the Oregon Health Plan. A study done by Oregon State University’s Sheryl Thornburg discovered that women who earned an annual average of $50,000 or less got low-quality health services because of their insurance coverage (Taylor et al., 2019). Further, the study revealed that insurance discrimination ranges from slow treatment to less care.
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Negative experiences linked to insurance discrimination may discourage future clients from seeking health services. More so, this happens when a patient requires medical care but unfortunately gets the opposite of his/her expectations due to lack of insurance. For instance, it is very important for patients diagnosed with severe TBI to get CT scans. Delaying or not ordering the CT scans can lessen the chances of a patient’s survival. The physician responsible for the actions may be trying to spare the costs that the scans to be done to the uninsured patient. Alternatively, the patient may be unwilling to pay for the costs of a CT scan. Also, hospital management may be demanding fewer CTs for patients without insurance coverage. Regardless of the physician’s consciousness or unconsciousness in making these treatment decisions, the fact is that insurance-based discrimination seems to interfere with treatment decisions.
Back in 2010, among the regulations of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a law to ensure that insurance companies did not charge more for pre-existing chronic diseases (Han et al., 2015). However, many people especially those with a condition such as back pain and cancer face barriers to care. Some of the plans are not inclusive of all prescribed medications, and particularly for the enrollees. Some have exclusivity of critical medications. Others are authorized to remove some medications from their insurance plans. Still, some have restrictions that require prior authorization to specific drugs. The network of hospitals and respective clinicians is so narrow that patients are denied quality care. Awareness that ought to be there in educating the public of the various insurance plans for their medical care is not there.
Generally, insurance companies have tricks centered by the profit-making health system. These practices are specifically designed for patients with chronic diseases. The alertness of insurance-based discrimination is a crucial move in lowering the potential risks of patients. Consequently, the public should fight for the liberation of our health care from the supremacy of drug industries and insurance companies.
References
Dworkin, A. (2019). Does insurance discrimination play a role in health care quality?. Retrieved 9 September 2019, from https://www.oregonlive.com/health/2009/12/does_insurance_discrimination.html
Han, X., Call, K. T., Pintor, J. K., Alarcon-Espinoza, G., & Simon, A. B. (2015). Reports of insurance-based discrimination in health care and its association with access to care. American journal of public health , 105 (S3), S517-S525.
Taylor, Y. J., Liu, T. L., & Howell, E. A. (2019). Insurance Differences in Preventive Care Use and Adverse Birth Outcomes Among Pregnant Women in a Medicaid Nonexpansion State: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of Women's Health .
