2023-06-20 04:00:57
Currently, it is estimated that there are 59 million Hispanic people in the United States.
The US medical system is one of the most controversial in the world because it has enough facilities and equipment but is not available to everyone.
In recent years, hospital costs have increased even more.
It is commonly mentioned that the United States medical system He is the best in the world, although he is also one of the most unfair. Although it has the most advanced hospitals and the most prominent universities on the planet, it also has several flaws. But what is this phenomenon due to?
For starters, when it comes to navigating the health care system, the Hispanic community in the United States is at a huge disadvantage. Language and cultural barriers contribute to the worst outcomes among Hispanics, the racial or ethnic group with the highest percentage of people without health insurance.
For his part, Judy Pinowho is a spokesperson for the Independent Women’s Forum, and Kelsey Ballarwho is a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum, delve into the current situation in that nation.
Hispanics are the most vulnerable
In the first instance, high copays and deductibles make health care out of reach even for patients with insurance, but particularly Hispanics, who often take risks and prioritize other expenses over health.
Half of Hispanic adults without health insurance say they have not had a medical appointment in the past year. While 63% of them admit that they could not pay an unexpected medical bill of $1,000 in 30 days.
The causes are many and complex, but there is a simple and acceptable solution: transparency in the price of health care.
Nearly 60% of Americans reported shock at the outrageous price of basic medical supplies they thought their insurance covered: $8 for a bag to put your belongings in, $23 for a single alcohol swab; $10 for the small plastic cup used to take medications and $53 for non-sterile gloves.
A Amanda Partee-Manders, a mother who received a hospital bill of $47,091.01 after giving birth by C-section, was caught off guard by the outrageous string of charges. Going out of her way to get an itemized bill, she discovered it included nearly $4,000 for IV Tylenol and $522 for outpatient care, despite never having received it at that hospital.
The Trump-era 2021 Hospital Price Transparency Rule requires healthcare professionals to disclose prices to their clients in computer-readable files and a consumer price transparency tool. More than 6,000 hospitals must post online their rates for common services like X-rays, lab tests and C-sections.
However, lobbyists and interest groups have fought fiercely to continue to confuse patients and keep them uninformed, resulting in incomplete and inconsistent information. After two years, an analysis of the non-profit entity Patient Rights Advocate discovered that three out of four hospitals have not complied with the standard, alleging that “its implementation is too expensive.”
Transparency in health care is one of the few bipartisan issues, with nearly 90% public support, but Congress must do more, and the Biden administration must make it a reality. Members of the House of Representatives are taking swift action to standardize the process across states in order to make hospitals comply. In addition, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently increased the penalty for non-compliance from $100,000 to more than $2 million a year per hospital.
By codifying true price transparency, lawmakers have an opportunity to combat the costly health care crisis and ensure that all Americans receive the care they deserve, at a price that is transparent and fair. For the good of all, it is time to end the secrecy that protects the health sector and be honest about what treatment and services cost, once and for all.
Also read:
Tasy, the new system that works like a digital medical record
The challenges and advances for a digital health system in Mexico
The countries with the most doctors trained abroad
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