Viewpoints: Change Needed To Bring Equity To Health Care Payments For Lower-Income Americans
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health topics.
Stat:
How To Fix The Two-Tier U.S. Health Payment System
How the U.S. pays for health care is neither efficient nor fair. Despite spending an astounding 20% of its economic output on health care, the U.S. ranks poorly among high-income countries in national health system performance. To make matters worse, the payment system for this care has ingrained systematic health inequities for historically marginalized groups like people of color and low-income Americans. Many individuals in these groups and their families are covered by public health insurance programs like Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. These often pay doctors and hospitals only a fraction of what private insurers pay for the same care. Together with structural racism, this payment disparity creates what is effectively a two-tier system for the haves and the have-nots. (Amol Navathe, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and Joshua Liao, 3/29)
The CT Mirror:
The Case For Mental Health Support For Black Women
It is time for America to take healthcare more seriously – especially mental healthcare for Black women. In January, a beauty queen took her own life. She plunged from the 29th floor of the apartment building where she lived. The world gasped and people mourned. Days later, another Black beauty queen died tragically in a similar manner. Sadly, more deaths have occurred since then, which highlights a growing trend seen more in the wake of a global pandemic. According to a study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is a higher incidence of young Black girls attempting suicide, which increased by 15% in almost three decades, than by their white counterparts. How did we get here? (Weruche George, 3/28)
CT News Junkie:
Bracing For The End Of The Roe Era
Last week, March for Life held its first-ever rally in Connecticut on the north side of the State Capitol. A sizable, energized crowd showed up, as Connecticut’s anti-abortion movement senses that the Supreme Court may be about to hand them a resounding victory in their decades-long quest to overturn Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, Democrats inside the building have been working to protect women who get abortions in Connecticut, with bills that would expand who can perform abortions and shield providers from out-of-state lawsuits. There’s also been some movement on a proposal to amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights. (Susan Bigelow, 3/29)
