Healthcare in the United States - Essay Example

Unequal access to healthcare is arguably the most pressing contemporary healthcare problem in this country. Today, 1 in 3 Americans identify themselves as Hispanic, African-American, Native American, Asian America or Pacific Islander.  It is predicted that by the year 2050, more than half of the American population will be identified as minorities.  Over the last fifty years, the United States has made efforts to ensure the improvement of health and health care access for all Americans.

  In the early 1960s, the United States established policies and programs aimed at expanding the access of healthcare to all citizens. This police and programs did result in expanding access to health care for low-income families, the disabled and the poor, through Medicaid, Medicare and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, disparities in health and healthcare continue to exist among minority populations in the United States.  For a country which came into existence based on the premise of equality for all, the United States seems, from a health-perspective, to have ignored one of the very principals under which it was founded (Gans95).

  The issue of inequality in healthcare needs to be addressed at all levels of society and is arguably the most important issue facing the future of healthcare delivery in America today.