America- Health Care as an Inequality Flashcards
Name 3 inequalities which are currently being tackled by the US
Healthcare
Education
Crime
What brought healthcare into sharp focus?
Obamas drive to introduce Obama Care, more formally known as the Affordable Care Act
When did Obama Care come into force?
October 2013
What does Obama Care aim to do?
It aims to ensure that all Americans have health insurance and that it is more widely available at an affordable rate.
Those who are on lower incomes will receive a government subsidy towards their insurance payment
Those who refuse to take out health care will be fined
Why is Obama Care somewhat different in practice than on paper?
Many Americans are simply too poor to afford the costs of healthcare and would rather pay the fine as it is usually cheaper than paying for insurance, so a large number of Americans remain uninsured
Even with government funding not everyone who needs extra money for insurance receives it, due to the vast number of Americans
Is Obama Care working?
According to data from the NHIS the number of Americans without healthcare fell from 14.4% of Americans in 2013, to 9.2% in 2015 clearly showing Obama Care is having some success
How has Medicare changed under Obama?
Under ObamaCare Medicare access has expanded from those over 65, to the poor and makes subsidised private health insurance available to middle class and working class people who were unable to get insurance through their workplace
How has this expansion of Medicare helped the situation?
As previously it was a small minority who were able to get help with their health insurance payment through schemes which pre- existed Obama Care, Medicaid (to help poor members of society) and Medicare (those over 65) which were government funded
These schemes were of limited success
What can we conclude overall about health insurance as an inequality?
Overall health inequalities are still prevalent in the USA as still 9.8% of all children in the US do not have health insurance, and there are still differences between ethnic minority groups.
However recent government schemes like Obama Care are having some success as the number of Americans without even basic health insurance is falling
