Mama Might Be Better Off Dead Summary

In “Mama Might Be Better Off Dead” we encounter a family’s struggle with the healthcare system, and how they are faced with disparities that could possibly be fixed with interventions. Three major ones were Medicaid, race, and lack of preventative care.
Although Medicaid was created to assist the poor, its regulations on who is poor enough to receive it becomes problematic. Its income restrictions are very tight, that it only covers half of the poor people who need it. This does not include most of the working poor, which is a contradiction in itself. People complain that the poor are causing them to pay more in taxes by not working, but if these individuals do work, then they lose out on needed funding. Because Medicaid pays physicians less than commercial insurers do, many doctors are not willing to take patients with this type of coverage, and those who do may not be as qualified. This leads to patients having trouble finding physicians in a timely manner, making their ailments worse. Lastly, Medicaid …show more content…
There are a lot of underlying issues when it comes to Blacks receiving proper care. For instance, Blacks face longer wait times for kidney transplants. Blacks are also less likely to donate their kidneys because of their distrust of doctors. Which in turn, is why they are faced with longer wait times than whites. Many experiments have been done on Blacks in the past, which makes them skeptical, and they also feel like the prevalence of AIDS may be a conspiracy theory. Also, Blacks are more likely to be poor and statistics show that those who are poor, are more prone to illnesses. Hence, being poor and black increases the need of healthcare, while decreasing the likelihood that they’ll have insurance to pay for it. Likewise, health professionals do not even acknowledge the fact that race is an issue, although it is very important in regards to their interactions with