Affordable access to health care for all has been successfully implemented in other industrialized countries. What are the current barriers to implementing such health coverage in the U.S.? What players are involved on either side of the issue?

Barriers to Affordable Access to Healthcare

The United States government implemented the Affordable Care Act to provide financial protection while using healthcare services and improve the accessibility of healthcare services (Glied et al., 2020). However, the majority of Americans face major challenges when attempting to access health care services. Average Americans face a number of barriers within the healthcare system that have barred the implementation of affordable access to healthcare coverage in the U.S as in other industrialized countries.

Financial disparities form a major barrier to the implementation of affordable care coverage and access to health care in the U.S. The Affordable Care Act has made substantial achievements in protecting Americans against costs associated with illness by initiating health coverage reforms that lead to the affordability of marketplace insurance (Glied et al., 2020). However, almost a third of Adult Americans remain uninsured due to the costs of copay premiums. Research has also identified underinsurance among children due to the growing percentage of income that parents spend on health care and coverage for children (Pascoe et al., 2021). With a majority either living with or at risk of chronic illnesses, making frequent copays for therapy during disease management may impact the patient’s ability to maintain the copays and opt out of insurance and treatment plans.

Implicit and explicit biases against people from certain racial heritages, languages, and cultural beliefs are other factors contributing to the inability of the U.S. to implement affordable healthcare access. Implicit and explicit biases influence providers’ willingness to interact and provide care services to marginalized populations, especially those from minorities in the U.S. Both healthcare professionals and insurance companies are contributing to these barriers. For instance, marketplace insurance companies may have a biased evaluation of black people, leading to the denial of insurance coverage. In addition, the U.S. is currently facing the threat of a shortage of health care, including diversity in the health workforce, which negatively impacts the ability to support the implementation of affordable access to health care. For instance, the reduced number of Hispanic health professionals has led to reduced access to healthcare services among Hispanic minorities (Ginzberg, 2019).

References

Ginzberg, E. (2019). Access to health care for Hispanics. Health Policy and the Hispanic, 22–31. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429034442-3/ACCESS-HEALTH-CARE-HISPANICS-ELI-GINZBERG

Glied, S. A., Collins, S. R., & Lin, S. (2020). Did The ACA Lower Americans’ Financial Barriers To Health Care? Https://Doi.Org/10.1377/Hlthaff.2019.01448, 39(3), 379–386. https://doi.org/10.1377/HLTHAFF.2019.01448