Health Disparities Essay

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Common Health Disparities in the Latino Population
As individuals progress throughout their lives, healthcare plays an important role. Individuals rely on health care services to provide strong mental and physical health on their wellbeing. The types of health care that may be provided could consist of, but are not limited to, routine visits, surgery, rehabilitation, medications or full body screenings. Ultimately, the health care systems, as a whole, would be able to provide these necessary services. A main issue with healthcare is that not everyone receives the same quality of care. This could depend on the individual’s financial status and/or ethnicity. Although, this is extremely unjust, these types of issues are still prominent today.
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Furthermore, a major cause for the Latino health disparity is their socioeconomic status. A majority of these individuals are immigrants, which makes them less likely to be able to qualify for public insurance. Public health insurance policies include Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs. These program’s main goals are to provide assistance to low-income individuals. Although some Hispanic’s receive this kind of aide, states including Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas have selective eligibility rules, which makes it harder for individuals who live in these states to obtain this insurance (Escarce & Kapur, …show more content…
Another obstacle that the Latino population faces in regard to proper healthcare is their limited proficiency in the English language (Escarce & Kapur, 2006). Proper communication and translation of symptoms play a vital role in health care. The physician’s need to know exactly why they are coming in to the office, so that they can correctly assess and ultimately diagnose the underlining problem. If a patient is not proficient in the same language as the treating physician, it may lead to unnecessary tests (i.e. blood work and diagnostic scanning) (Escarce & Kapur, 2006). These individuals may not understand the severity of their diagnose, as well as, the appropriate time to schedule a follow-up visit. These are all key factors, which have the ability to lead in the poor healthcare and prognosis of these

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