PBS Sick Around the World Brookline College Tasheena Chavez February 19, 2018 People would consider other countries to have better health care system but for Native Americans like myself it’s pretty much just as good as other countries. Just like most health care systems there are pros and cons, even for the Native Americans. For every nearby reservation, there is an Indian Hospital that is government funded for all Native Americans to receive free health care. I enjoy the convenient nature of when having health issues, I can depend on the Indian Hospital for my needs. Even if an Indian Hospital is not near we could go to any hospital to receive treatment and what is billed to us, we would give to the proper administrative workers
The United States health care system ranks 37th in the world. Statistically, it’s bizarre how United States is amongst one of the most advanced nations in the world and the fact that it spends more on its healthcare
IHS is a very complex organization that serves the American Indian and Alaskan Native population. Effective health services for American Indians and Alaskan Natives had to integrate the philosophies of the tribes with those of the medical community. Because not all tribes signed treaties with the United States some people with Indian heritage were not eligible to participate with the federal government programs. Eligible people with Indian heritage were provided various services throughout the IHS programs; however, some IHS locations did not have the necessary equipment or facilities to provide comprehensive services.
The IHS, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, issues some health care benefits to assist Native Americans on reservations (“Health Coverage For”). But people fail to identify loopholes in the ACA that prevent Native Americans from gaining proper access health care. For example, health care provided by the IHS only applies to federally recognized tribes. Although there are 567 federally recognized tribes today, there are also 460 tribes that still lack government recognition (Olife). This means that those who are not federally recognized are ineligible for Medicare needs that could be available to them if they were government recognized. In addition to that, medicaid has not expanded to at least 20 states (Norris). So even if Native tribes are government recognized, medicaid is not available to those who live in those states. In other words, Natives will have to find other means for helping themselves until more states expand on Medicaid. But do medical emergencies have time to wait? So in the case of Native Americans on reservations, even if they are entitled to health insurance under the ACA, if they are not federally recognized or live in a state that accepts medicaid, Natives will be forced to support
Every country has its own rule of law when it comes to social justice and health care system. It is hard to judge which country has a better system. However, to know other nations way of lives is always great to compare how their citizens are treated, which is so important in people’s daily life. In the book of “The Healing of America”, by author T. R. Reid, who compares the American health system with various countries in the world predominantly, developed and democratic nations. Reid explains that those countries provide better and cheaper health care for their citizens compared to America.
Though American Indians are enjoying an independent public health system with above $3 billion funds provided by Congress annually for delivering healthcare services to them, still figure and facts on health status of American Indians reveal that they are facing many difficulties and have to suffer from diverse type of illness and disease at a misappropriate level. Since long it was identified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American Indians.
Many people believe that the current of health care in the United States is the best health care in the world however it has major shortcomings that has become more visible for the whole world to see. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world based on health expenditure per capita and on
They tend to be extremely poor and unemployed. They have much higher death rates from alcoholism, tuberculosis, diabetes, injuries, suicide, and homicide. Their life expectancy is 4.6 years less than the general population. The Federal Government expanded their scope of services and allowing them to plan, develop, and administer their own healthcare programs. In 1976, The Indian Health Care Improvement Act was created to minimize prejudice build and trust with American Indians. The federal program Indian Health Service ensure them comprehensive and culturally acceptable health services. They are still medically underserved due to limited resources and the needs are expanding rapidly. The Indian Health Service is divide into 12 area offices in different geographic locations. Due to the locations of the reservation communities they are hard to access geographically. Their locations render the services they really need but they do not utilization the system
The services includes; health screening, education and prevention programs for diabetes, obesity and HIV, screening and access to child immunization and shots for adult clients. This service is extremely important because so many people are lacking health care, especially if they come from a small reservation they might lack the capacity to for example find a disease like cancer, in one of their patients. They provide access to primary care by making contracts with different community clinics and medical providers for medical, dental and specialty care. They also provide culturally sensitive services because there are sometimes cultural issues between the doctor, and the patient due to different belief systems. The clinic provides services like physicals, management of medicine, STD/STI screening, pap smears, pregnancy testing breast exams, and contraceptives. It is important to note, that the also have health services for seniors/elders, nutrition and weight loss. The only requirement is the patient has to be a member of a federally recognized tribe or one that is state recognized to receive health education/service programs. The primary care clinic varies from clinic to clinic and should be consulted before
The Cherokee nation of Oklahoma is one of the many native Indian tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts in improving the health system in the Cherokee nation as well as the health of its individuals. For a long time, the Cherokee nation has engaged in successful health care experiences such as building health centers, launching health programs or even individually engaging in the health field to improve the overall healthcare in the nation.
Despite the advancement of modern medicine, there are still disparities to be found within the United States healthcare system. Disparities in healthcare can and will affect anyone. David S. Jones explains in an article published in the American Journal of Health that brings awareness to the disparities that Native Americans have experienced within our healthcare systems. Many influences are said to be the root of the problem of these disparities such as economic and political interests. This is supported by examining various populations like the Indian populations, who found themselves “living in rural poverty suffered terribly from disease” (Jones 2006).
Access to the communities is provided year round by Wasaya Airline and airstrips that are maintained by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Of course, each Aboriginal community is unique with its own set of traditions and ways of healing but my observation after working within the communities for over ten years is that they all suffer from improperished conditions and substandard housing. The local economies are primarily based upon government services (Indian and Northern Affairs) (INAC) and small business. Most of the reserves have six hundred people or less, and each community has a nursing station. The nursing stations are well-maintained functional buildings built in or about the early 1960’s and are maintained by Health Canada. First Nations and Inuit Health (FNIH) maintains responsibility for primary care services in the majority of the northwest Ontario reserve communities. In the north, nurses are the primary care givers working in an extended scope of practice, and client care is centrally coordinated by nurses working within interdisciplinary teams. The majority of the nursing and medical staff working for FNIH in the Sioux Lookout zone are Caucasian and do not come from local communities. This could outwardly appear as a reinforcement of power relations in the racial identities. There is only very limited cultural training given to employees when they are employed by FNIH. Medical advice and
Despite the documented challenges that the U.S. health care system faces, it also enjoys a number of advantages over other systems around the world.
The United States has a very unique healthcare system. Does this mean that we are simply leagues ahead of the rest of the world in healthcare? Unfortunately, not at all. The ideal of American exceptionalism is apt to describe our healthcare system. That is, our current system is exceptionally bad. Per capita, the United States spends “twice the average of other developed countries” on healthcare ("United States Per Capita Healthcare Spending Is More Than Twice The Average Of Other Developed Countries"). Yet, in the World Health Organization’s ranking of healthcare systems by nation, the U.S. comes in at a dismal 37th place, despite spending the most per person of any country on Earth on healthcare ("World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems").
The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CN) is one of the many Native American tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts and investments in improving the health care system in the Cherokee Nation. Through the building of health care centers, launching health programs, and individually engaged tribal members in the health field, the Cherokee Nation is striving to improve the overall health care of their people.
Many would argue that here, in the United States, we have the best healthcare in the world. We benefit from the most up to date medical technologies, medications, and services. People come from every corner of the world to take advantage of our top notch physicians and facilities. But is this reputation warranted, and if so, at what cost? The average annual cost per US resident is $7,681; this comprises 16.2% of our gross domestic product. These costs rank us among the highest of industrialized nations (Lundy, 2010). Does this high expenditure equate to better outcomes? According to the National Scorecard on US Health System Performance (2008), the US received a 65 out of 100 possible points.