Gender Inequality In Primary Care

Gender inequality is a prevailing issue in the U.S. healthcare system. As compared to men, women tend to have less access to the primary care, primarily due to economic factors. “Women are more likely than men to be poor, and within poor households, non-negotiable responsibilities and limited access to resources, including health care, have greater relative impact on the health and wellbeing of women than men” (Rogers, 2006). In some of the states where gender ratings are not banned, about 90 percent of the private health insurance plan charges women more than men (Doll, 2012). On an average, women live longer and tend to use healthcare services more often than men, hence they have a higher gender rating, which gradually increases their healthcare premiums. Moreover, women face discrimination in their reproductive healthcare coverage since their health insurance usually does not cover the contraceptive treatments.

However, with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), some of these inequalities have significantly decreased. The insurance companies can no longer use gender ratings to decide the premiums. In addition, ACA has mandated the insurance companies to include mental and reproductive health in their primary care coverage. Presently, …show more content…
If I am a primary care physician responsible for treating the individuals in such situation then I would address it through the ethical concept of distributive justice. One of the way to follow this ethical principle would be by decreasing the copays for the poor women, thereby helping them to seek regular primary care services. Another way would be by distributing the social services and other resources equally and adequately towards women’s health. Above all, this might not be the definitive solution to the ethical challenges related to gender inequalities, but it does provide substantive guidelines towards declining such