Social Disparities Essay

Social disparities exist in every socio-economics status, the one that is most prevalent at this time in our nation is the lack of healthcare, which, is something that affects countless individuals. The Affordable Care Act, which, is also known as ACA or more commonly known as Obama Care was supposed to be the answer for individuals healthcare needs. Needless to say, there are still several issues, the most prominent issue exists with the negative shadow that is cast upon the Medicaid program. Medicaid is the healthcare system that individual receives when their income falls below the new standard of 133% of the federal poverty level (CMS.gov, 2013). The new federal poverty level is beneficial is the sense that it is covering a wider population of uninsured throughout the nation. This would be perfect if the nation accepted this as a creditable and honorable insurance to partake in. Medicaid users have been treated poorly and undeserving for decades, but ACA was …show more content…
111-148) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152) which is the expansion of the Medicaid program. The original policy was created by Congress in 1965 and signed by President Lyndon Johnson, it was the concept of a universal health plan that combined both Medicare and Medicaid to serve the elderly (Policy Basics, 2015). The funding for this program was orchestrated in a way that allowed states to ramp up, in order to take on such an enormous financial burden, but numerous states chose not to expand their Medicaid programs leaving our vulnerable populations still underserved (CMS.gov, 2013). States such as Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, just to name a few. This population cannot afford to purchase healthcare and their employers most likely cannot either. Thus leaving the greatest population of needy,