Opinion Article Analysis 2: "Minority Health Care Outcomes Have Little To Do With Health Coverage Or Lack Of It, Study Finds"

Summary:
In Bill Toland's "Minority Health Care Outcomes Have Little To Do With Health Coverage Or Lack Of It, Study Finds," the author argues that although minority groups receive lower quality health care at lower quality hospitals than whites, the main reason for the current minority health care outcomes are because minorities choose to be treated at lower quality hospitals when they live near higher quality hospitals. He believes that health insurance has little or nothing to do with the current minority health disparities. He also states that the reason why minorities select low-quality hospitals is because there's a pattern of referring patients to less than higher quality hospitals and this pattern is maintained when the patient is eligible for Medicare at age 65. He suggests that, "minority-serving hospitals" (where patients sees the same doctor and go to the same hospital for a long period of time that they begin to serve to certain populations) are the reason for lower quality care because White patients who attend to these types of hospitals perform just as poorly as Black patients compared to a non-minority serving hospital.

Analysis:
Although some minorities may live near better health care facilities, it is a hasty generalization to assume that minorities would rather go to lower-quality hospitals for medical care. In fact, most minority population suffers from lack of health insurance and resources to receive better quality health care. His assumption that Blacks live closer to higher quality hospitals than Whites has not been proven with much research. Most Blacks live closer to lower quality hospitals, so they are forced to seek medical care at those clinical sites. Even if some Blacks live closer to higher quality hospitals, they don't have the income to pay for the expensive procedure and treatments, so they would usually choose a more affordable hospital.

Response:
I don't agree with Bill Toland on his perception of minority's choice of where they seek medical care. I can't believe that there are people out there who believe such a thing. His assumptions that minority health care outcomes have little to do with health coverage or lack of it is only his own perspective. There are large amount of research out there showing minorities are suffering from lack of quality healthcare because of the problem with health insurance. I am a strong believer that in today's society, income and health insurance is the route for receiving quality health care. Minorities are struggling to find the best possible healthcare with their limited income and education background and improving the outlook that quality healthcare is possible for them will make big changes in our healthcare system.