What's Wrong With American Healthcare?

The healthcare system in the United States is put in place and said to be an effective source for healthcare needs for the entirety of the population.  However, research has proven that minorities, especially including African Americans, are more unlikely to seek medical attention when needed as compared to other groups, specifically their white counterparts. 

           

According to an AARP report (May 2002) on health and insurance coverage, Hispanics and African Americans aged 50-64 were more likely than their white cohorts to not have seen a health care professional in the past year.  While one in 10 whites aged 50 to 64 are uninsured, the rate for Hispanics is one in three and for African Americans one in five.

Many scholars would link this ratio to being typical of the immigrant in America, who are often faced with barriers which block them from benefiting as they should from the US healthcare system.  These barriers could include a language barrier, informality with newer technology and its medical benefits, among many others.  Typecasting African Americans into that immigrant culture, however, does not question the feeling of mistrust that many African Americans feel about the healthcare systems and the individuals involved in it. 

African Americans are more likely than Caucasians to mistrust the health care system and its providers.

Specifically, surveys have been conducted to address the African American suspect of healthcare individuals and reports found that:

African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to experience difficulty communicating with their physician.

It is unfortunate that, still today, racial differences affect decisions that could be detrimental to someone’s wellbeing.  It would be nice to say that each person is granted the same access and service, especially in this sort of institution, and the US has come a long way from the Civil Rights Movement and separate-but-equal, but we clearly have a long way to go.