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Impact of Chronic Disease
Chronic Disease in Underserved Populations
Underserved patients have major barriers to healthcare. These barriers often cause patients to avoid getting healthcare. Avoiding healthcare can be a problem because when diseases go undiagnosed they can get worse. Treatment can also be more difficult and costly.
In this section we explore the issues that underserved populations often deal with. These issues are major problems for individuals and our healthcare system.
What is an underserved patient?
There are different reasons people can be considered underserved. Underserved people may be:
- Low-income
- Uninsured or underinsured
- Immigrants
- Racial or ethnic minorities
- Elderly
- Geographically isolated or live in places where there are few doctors or clinics
Underserved populations go without health insurance.
The number of uninsured Americans has reached a record high. In 2005 almost 16% of Americans were uninsured. People with low incomes are more likely to be uninsured. In 2005 almost 25% of people with an income below $25,000 were uninsured.
Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be uninsured. For example, the percentage of uninsured Hispanics is almost 33%. For African-Americans the percentage is almost 20%.
The chart below shows health coverage for adults under 65. The percentage of uninsured adults, shown in red, has been slowly climbing over the past 20 years. One reason for this is because private health insurance is expensive and many employers do not provide health insurance. The blue line shows that a lower percentage of people are covered by private health insurance compared to twenty years ago.
Source: Health, United States, 2007 with The Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans
Read all about it: Uninsured Americans
Census Bureau data from 2005 shows that almost 16% of Americans do not have health insurance. This is a record high. Read the key Census data findings.
Underserved patients may not get preventive healthcare.
When people have lower income or do not have health insurance they often avoid:
- Health screening
- Regular physical exams
- Prescription medication
- Mental health, dental and vision care
The chart below shows the percent of adults in 2007 who could not afford medical care, prescription medication, mental health care, dental care or eyeglasses. More than 10% of adults in the U.S. age 18-64 could not afford dental care. About 10% could not afford prescription medication and about 8% could not afford medical care.
Source: Health, United States, 2007 with The Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans
Let’s look at other health issues underserved populations often deal with. >>>
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