NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 1 Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

Student Name

Capella University

FPX 6008

Professor

Submission Date

Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

The effectiveness of services and the efficiency of delivery of services in the communities are determined in terms of health care economics. The availability of preventive and primary care could not be accessed promptly due to economic barriers. This includes the insurance coverage, the prohibitive out-of-pocket costs, and the inadequacy of the provider. The case under analysis is the financial problem of health care at a local level, the inaccessibility of health care services among the African American people. Delay in treatment, overuse of emergency services, and a greater rate of avoidable complications are also linked with the problem. This causes greater costs incurred by patients and health systems.

Health Care Economic Issue: Lack of Access to Health Care

The African American community cannot receive affordable and equal health care, and this is a significant economic challenge in the United States. This problem was caused by the root cause of the existing standing economic inequality and institutionalized racism, which are social determinants of health and suppression of access to regular health care. The African Americans are vulnerable to residing in the underserved region in relation to medicine, no health cover, and even financial difficulty, making primary and preventive medical care services inaccessible (Albert et al., 2024).

Such limitations in the economy can be viewed as one of the reasons for the heightened rate of occurrence of such chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as compared to those of White. African Americans are almost double the likelihood and three times more likely to put medical care aside since it’s expensive, which shows that economics are directly correlated with the health status and life expectancy.

Supporting Data, Information, and Observations

This is because economic obstacles to care are an exemplary explanation as to why the Africans Americans have such adverse health outcomes. In one of the studies, it is established that a fifth of the overall American African Americans are below the federal poverty line, and this means that they cannot afford health insurance coverage nor can they afford to cover their own-of-pocket medical bills (Egede et al., 2023). Polls conducted on the occupancy of primary healthcare doctors and screening in other city centers, such as Baltimore and Atlanta, have low results. Accessibility to other hospitals is also more challenging due to the necessity of the African Americans to travel long distances and owing to the shortage of culturally competent providers, thus enhancing the disparity in access.

Rationale for Choosing the Issue

The variables, such as the lack of access to health care in African Americans, have been selected because this is one of the most difficult and unjust economic disparities in health care in the United States. This issue is a summation of the profound economic and systematic injustices that precondition the access to care, the quality of treatment, and the results in health (Jindal et al., 2023). Uninsured and inability to obtain preventive and specialized care are even more common among African Americans and further put them at risk to spend more on health in the long-term, individually and as a community.

Personal Experiences and Values Influencing the Choice

The choice of this problem has to do with personal and professional values by which the equality and justice of the health care are prioritized. My examples of individuals in underprivileged locations either delay or refuse to take treatment due to their economic capacity or not having one have strengthened my position of fair access as a human right of equal standing (Whitman et al., 2022). Such experiences have helped me advance my social justice philosophy, and this has led me to suggest policies that will remove the economic and racial barriers in the process of offering care.

 Impact on My Work, Organization, Colleagues, and Community

The problem of the inaccessibility of health care to the African American population has significantly influenced the work in my field, the work environment in the organization. The delays in access to care meant that the patients were forced to suffer from illnesses in their later stages, which implies more complicated and expensive treatments (Kusma et al., 2023). This workload burden on the health care staff is due to the use of emergency services instead of preventive care. Due to the lack of access to treatments and follow-ups that patients are prescribed, it is likely that clinicians working in my organization will experience moral and emotional distress (Yearby et al., 2022). Community-wide, the problem encourages more incidences of preventable hospital stays and marginal chronic illness management, which undermines the level of trust in the health apparatus and overburdens the populace.

Greater Impact on Diverse and Lower Socio-Economic Groups

It is an economic issue that is heavily unfairly applied to African Americans as well as other minorities who live in low-income neighborhoods. Health inequities are also compounded by a lack of access to affordable healthcare, transportation, and culturally competent healthcare, with Black people having higher rates of uninsured persons under age 65 (9.7% compared to White people 6.5%), and Black adults were 1.5 times more likely to be uninsured than White adults (kffcarenec, 2025). The status means that the less income these people have, the less they can afford medicines and health check-ups, leading to a high prevalence of chronic diseases left unattended.

Identifying the Gap Contributing to the Issue

The omnipresence of economic and structural inequality across the health system of the U.S. has been a significant gap that is causing the failure to have access to health care in the African American society. The disadvantages faced by many African Americans are that they cannot afford the insurance payments, a lack of providers in the underserved communities, and the provision of culturally competent care (Knowles et al., 2023). This disparity is compounded by the inequality of the distribution of health resources, with poor and minority communities not having hospitals, primary care clinics, and preventive health programs. Such a lack of insurance cover tends to result in greater recourse to the emergency departments in the name of non-emergency cases, which only leads to a greater burden on the health system, not to mention the overall expenses.

Conclusion

The inaccessibility of health care in the African American community is an essential economic concern, since it leads to an increase in preventable sickness, morbidity, and mortality, a deferral in treatment, and the use of more expensive emergency and inpatient care. It also puts extra burden on the health care staff and organizational resources after the patients arrive later with more complicated demands. The problem is more impactful on the lower socio-economic populations due to the effects experienced through the obstacles of insurance turbulence, transportation restrictions, and the number of local providers. The solution for the identified gap that includes unequal access to affordable coverage and regular primary care would help promote improved health outcomes and decrease avoidable expenses of the community and the healthcare system.