Understanding the Plan & Targeting People of Color
In March of 2010, the Obama administration was, albeit barely, and to varying degrees of success, able to pass and implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This act has since provided health insurance for more than 20 million Americans. It made great progress in insuring people of color, who are disproportionately uninsured. To emphasize this, insuring the African American diaspora in the United States would drop the percent of uninsured Americans from 25% to 14%. President Joe Biden’s healthcare plan is designed as an extension of the ACA, seeking to improve and expand it. Some of the measures he plans to add include an expansion of Medicaid eligibility, ending surprise billing for healthcare, and negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to counter abusive pricing.
The largest change, however, is his promise to create a public health insurance option for all Americans, which will include coverage for undocumented immigrants. He also plans to restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood and support abortion rights. It is estimated that Biden's healthcare plan will cover an additional 15 to 20 million people, roughly halving the number of Americans currently uninsured. This will further help reduce the disparities in healthcare for people of color. The administration also plans to improve data collection and improve outreach to communities of color, who are often distrustful of healthcare. All of these are ambitious goals. Are they realistic? Why now?
One issue specific to women of color are their high maternal mortality rates. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and this rate has increased in recent years. This mortality rate is disproportionately high for women of color - for black mothers, it is three times higher than for white mothers. Of these deaths, 60% are preventable. In 2006, California created a program that has successfully halved this rate. The Biden administration plans to expand this strategy to the national level, which will save the lives of thousands of mothers. Another action that significantly helps women of color is the restoration of federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood clinics serve large populations of Black and Latina women who cannot otherwise afford care, helping them take care of their reproductive health. President Trump's attacks on this organization (and abortion rights in general) hurt their access to care, and restoring funding will improve their health outcomes.
People of color rely heavily on community health clinics (including Planned Parenthood) to get care - 59% of their patients are people of color, and 1/4 of them are uninsured. The Biden administration plans to double federal funding for these clinics, thus improving the quality and accessibility of care. Additionally, this administration has taken steps to improve care for people of color with regards to COVID-19. The racial disparity in the number of cases and economic impacts of COVID-19 is well known, but largely unsolved. In order to mitigate this, President Biden has created an equity task force, aiming to improve data collection and expand outreach initiatives. Community outreach is especially important because of the high rates of vaccine mistrust among people of color, due to historical precedent. The taskforce, led by Dr.Marcella Nunez-Smith of the Yale School of Medicine, will tackle these issues head on. This taskforce, among other elements of Biden’s healthcare plan, demonstrate this administration’s commitment to improving healthcare for people of color.
In March of 2010, the Obama administration was, albeit barely, and to varying degrees of success, able to pass and implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This act has since provided health insurance for more than 20 million Americans. It made great progress in insuring people of color, who are disproportionately uninsured. To emphasize this, insuring the African American diaspora in the United States would drop the percent of uninsured Americans from 25% to 14%. President Joe Biden’s healthcare plan is designed as an extension of the ACA, seeking to improve and expand it. Some of the measures he plans to add include an expansion of Medicaid eligibility, ending surprise billing for healthcare, and negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to counter abusive pricing.
The largest change, however, is his promise to create a public health insurance option for all Americans, which will include coverage for undocumented immigrants. He also plans to restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood and support abortion rights. It is estimated that Biden's healthcare plan will cover an additional 15 to 20 million people, roughly halving the number of Americans currently uninsured. This will further help reduce the disparities in healthcare for people of color. The administration also plans to improve data collection and improve outreach to communities of color, who are often distrustful of healthcare. All of these are ambitious goals. Are they realistic? Why now?
One issue specific to women of color are their high maternal mortality rates. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and this rate has increased in recent years. This mortality rate is disproportionately high for women of color - for black mothers, it is three times higher than for white mothers. Of these deaths, 60% are preventable. In 2006, California created a program that has successfully halved this rate. The Biden administration plans to expand this strategy to the national level, which will save the lives of thousands of mothers. Another action that significantly helps women of color is the restoration of federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood clinics serve large populations of Black and Latina women who cannot otherwise afford care, helping them take care of their reproductive health. President Trump's attacks on this organization (and abortion rights in general) hurt their access to care, and restoring funding will improve their health outcomes.
People of color rely heavily on community health clinics (including Planned Parenthood) to get care - 59% of their patients are people of color, and 1/4 of them are uninsured. The Biden administration plans to double federal funding for these clinics, thus improving the quality and accessibility of care. Additionally, this administration has taken steps to improve care for people of color with regards to COVID-19. The racial disparity in the number of cases and economic impacts of COVID-19 is well known, but largely unsolved. In order to mitigate this, President Biden has created an equity task force, aiming to improve data collection and expand outreach initiatives. Community outreach is especially important because of the high rates of vaccine mistrust among people of color, due to historical precedent. The taskforce, led by Dr.Marcella Nunez-Smith of the Yale School of Medicine, will tackle these issues head on. This taskforce, among other elements of Biden’s healthcare plan, demonstrate this administration’s commitment to improving healthcare for people of color.
Biden’s Plan to Combat Racial Disparity in Reproductive Health Care
COVID-19 has caused suffering for many families, and African American and colored families are bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s assault. As the crisis continues during Biden’s presidency, his administration must establish a health care plan for people of color (POC). The Biden administration faces this question: why are they hit harder than other groups? According to Socio-economic status and COVID-19–related cases and fatalities, research shows that black residents were more likely to be infected and die due to COVID-19. This relation also pertains to individuals with only a high school diploma and those in the poverty bracket. Due to various racist practices throughout American history, many POC reside in these poverty brackets. The fact that many POC do not receive transparent education about health care procedures exacerbates their risk for many diseases and health conditions as well as their skepticism of medicine. A study in 2015 among Hispanics showed that, among those in the low access to healthcare bracket, provider-patient conversations about smoking were less frequent, which in turn would lead to more medical problems because of smoking. A study on Parkinson's disease between white people and black people also showed that black people were much less likely to be medicated and had a greater risk of death. This is not limited to just physical illness. POC with depression were much more likely to ask for medication over therapy due to past discrimination in health care. A lot of this, in the end, is about the lack of access POC Americans have to healthcare.
Undoubtedly, one of the largest restrictions that people of color face in regards to health care are exorbitant prices, especially with the pandemic’s effect on employment. For example, the cost of insulin has risen to $332 as of 2019. President Biden plans to fight this by repealing a bill that prevents Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower prices. He also plans to expand Medicare's coverage; since 16 states have not allowed the expansion of Medicare, Biden seeks to circumvent this in order to increase patient eligibility. This figure includes 16% of African Americans (and around 4.9 million adults of any race) who could be insured without going through state policy.
Outside of the pandemic’s reach, a large factor that impacts POC women harder than their white counterparts is the lack of easy access to contraceptives. POC women tend to have higher rates of abortion, due to this fact, with 15% of black women and 12% of Hispanic women not using contraceptives, compared to 9% of White women. The result of this is black women being 3 times as likely and Hispanic women being 2 times as likely to having an unexpected pregnancy compared to white women. The Guttmacher Institute also reveals that POC women make the majority proportion of abortions in 2004, with the number being 67%. So what is Biden’s plan?
The 1st step is repealing the Hydes Amendment; a provision that barrs the use of federal funding to abortion services. This makes abortion services criminally unfunded. The 2nd step after increasing funding for Planned Parenthood. ⅓ of their clients are people of color. To help with this, Biden hopes to codify Roe v. Wade and eliminate TRAP laws (laws that, instead of helping women get safer abortions, intend to close abortion facilities.) Biden has repealed the Mexico City Policy (a rule that restricts USA efforts to help global health efforts simply because a government abortion funding).
This funding to Planned Parenthood would also help the USA’s crippling maternal mortality crisis. In fact, the United States ranks #2 in maternal mortality in 2018, with 17.4 deaths per 100,000 births out of OECD countries, which is in stark contrast to the next highest G7 nation, Canada, with 8.6 deaths per 100,000 births. This problem is worse among POC women, with results from a 2007-2016 study showing that black women make up 40.8% and Native American women make up 29.7% of maternal deaths. Biden will need to create further reforms in the United States healthcare system to alleviate this.
Only time will tell if Biden will keep his promise to help POC in desperate need of healthcare change, or if he will break his promises to maintain the status quo. These points will foster a lot of pushback from Republicans in Congress but one thing is clear: change is needed and Biden has the ability, and the promises, to do so.
COVID-19 has caused suffering for many families, and African American and colored families are bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s assault. As the crisis continues during Biden’s presidency, his administration must establish a health care plan for people of color (POC). The Biden administration faces this question: why are they hit harder than other groups? According to Socio-economic status and COVID-19–related cases and fatalities, research shows that black residents were more likely to be infected and die due to COVID-19. This relation also pertains to individuals with only a high school diploma and those in the poverty bracket. Due to various racist practices throughout American history, many POC reside in these poverty brackets. The fact that many POC do not receive transparent education about health care procedures exacerbates their risk for many diseases and health conditions as well as their skepticism of medicine. A study in 2015 among Hispanics showed that, among those in the low access to healthcare bracket, provider-patient conversations about smoking were less frequent, which in turn would lead to more medical problems because of smoking. A study on Parkinson's disease between white people and black people also showed that black people were much less likely to be medicated and had a greater risk of death. This is not limited to just physical illness. POC with depression were much more likely to ask for medication over therapy due to past discrimination in health care. A lot of this, in the end, is about the lack of access POC Americans have to healthcare.
Undoubtedly, one of the largest restrictions that people of color face in regards to health care are exorbitant prices, especially with the pandemic’s effect on employment. For example, the cost of insulin has risen to $332 as of 2019. President Biden plans to fight this by repealing a bill that prevents Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower prices. He also plans to expand Medicare's coverage; since 16 states have not allowed the expansion of Medicare, Biden seeks to circumvent this in order to increase patient eligibility. This figure includes 16% of African Americans (and around 4.9 million adults of any race) who could be insured without going through state policy.
Outside of the pandemic’s reach, a large factor that impacts POC women harder than their white counterparts is the lack of easy access to contraceptives. POC women tend to have higher rates of abortion, due to this fact, with 15% of black women and 12% of Hispanic women not using contraceptives, compared to 9% of White women. The result of this is black women being 3 times as likely and Hispanic women being 2 times as likely to having an unexpected pregnancy compared to white women. The Guttmacher Institute also reveals that POC women make the majority proportion of abortions in 2004, with the number being 67%. So what is Biden’s plan?
The 1st step is repealing the Hydes Amendment; a provision that barrs the use of federal funding to abortion services. This makes abortion services criminally unfunded. The 2nd step after increasing funding for Planned Parenthood. ⅓ of their clients are people of color. To help with this, Biden hopes to codify Roe v. Wade and eliminate TRAP laws (laws that, instead of helping women get safer abortions, intend to close abortion facilities.) Biden has repealed the Mexico City Policy (a rule that restricts USA efforts to help global health efforts simply because a government abortion funding).
This funding to Planned Parenthood would also help the USA’s crippling maternal mortality crisis. In fact, the United States ranks #2 in maternal mortality in 2018, with 17.4 deaths per 100,000 births out of OECD countries, which is in stark contrast to the next highest G7 nation, Canada, with 8.6 deaths per 100,000 births. This problem is worse among POC women, with results from a 2007-2016 study showing that black women make up 40.8% and Native American women make up 29.7% of maternal deaths. Biden will need to create further reforms in the United States healthcare system to alleviate this.
Only time will tell if Biden will keep his promise to help POC in desperate need of healthcare change, or if he will break his promises to maintain the status quo. These points will foster a lot of pushback from Republicans in Congress but one thing is clear: change is needed and Biden has the ability, and the promises, to do so.
