Recently, the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic has been making its way across the United States. What was once a foreign problem is now the United States’ most significant health care challenge seen in this generation. People who were not already aware of America’s flawed health care system are now coming to realization. With hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff lacking protective equipment, ventilators, and more, many now see that our health care system before the Pandemic was in a precarious position.
While the Coronavirus is not particularly discriminatory, people of low economic status still face health inequalities. The NY Times article “As the Corona Virus Deepens Inequality, Inequality Worsens Its Spread,” discusses how the Pandemic is expanding the social and economic divisions. Research has suggested that people from low economic classes are more likely to contract the Virus and more likely to die from it. A public health expert from the article brought up a point that following a disaster of this magnitude, pre-existing social vulnerabilities only get worse.
As discussed in previous blogs, low-income people are more likely than any other group to have underlying health conditions. Conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, and obesity are all disorders that are popular among today’s society and also are the underlying conditions that put people at higher risk of mortality if they contract the Virus. In a stunning statement, the article brings up that health organizations say people above the age of 70 are at a much higher risk of dying of COVID-19. However, based on research, people of low socioeconomic status are around the same risk at just the age of 55.
Another factor to consider is that people of low economic status mostly work blue-collar jobs. Blue-collar jobs are not built for the work at home option. With the current mandates in place shutting down non-essential businesses, many people are at home without income. People from disadvantaged households still working may have to use mass transportation which only increases their risk of contracting the Virus. Health inequalities such as access to health care make getting sick a substantial financial burden. Some people of low socioeconomic status are ignoring symptoms and avoiding medical care because of the intimidating cost of uninsured medical treatment. Experts say that people who fear seeking medical care is a big problem because if there is no detection of the Virus, transmission rates will continue to soar.
A story that has made headlines regarding a Los Angeles Teen is discomforting. A teen who had no underlying conditions tested positive for COVID-19 and died of septic shock. Potentially fatal septic shock usually results when the body has an overwhelming response to an infection. In the case of this teen, it was fatal. The teen went to an urgent care facility with respiratory complaints but was denied because he did not have health insurance. The facility advised the teen to seek help at a public hospital instead. The young man went into cardiac arrest on his way to a hospital, he was revived, but it did not last long. This story is unfortunate, but we must not let it slip through the cracks, there is no reason why someone should be turned away with acute symptoms, especially in times like these.
Now, testing for the Coronavirus is entirely free. However, if someone tests positive and their condition requires hospital treatment, there may be a significant financial sum awaiting them if they get out. Stay Healthy!!
Health Ineqaulities 