Health care remains a barrier in America, with these five states having it worse

The US healthcare system has long been tied to employment and is one of the crucial inefficient and expensive in the developed world, making it difficult to navigate. According to a recent Gallup and West Health survey, 55% of American adults have access to and may afford quality health care when needed.

According to , the flexibility to access health care in America depends largely on the condition in which a person is looking for health care. Moreover, inequality also shapes who gains access to quality health care.

As Uché Blackstock, a medical doctor and thinker on bias and racism in health care, writes in his recent book: Historically, Black and Latino patients have been denied equal access to health care in America.

When making the comparison, states were ranked based on where they were positioned, based on 14 indicators: the variety of hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants, the variety of primary care doctors per 10,000 inhabitants, the variety of specialist doctors per 10,000 inhabitants, the variety of nurses per 10,000 inhabitants. inhabitants, variety of medical assistants per 10,000 inhabitants, percentage of met needs in areas of shortage of primary health care providers, percentage of residents not covered by medical health insurance, variety of medical clinics per 100,000 inhabitants, average annual worker contribution, single coverage of medical health insurance provided by the employer, percentage of the annual contribution on employer-provided medical health insurance for workers covered by one insurance, average annual deductible for workers covered by one employer-provided medical health insurance, percentage of residents who selected to not see a doctor in some unspecified time in the future in the last 12 months due to cost, the variety of critical care physicians per 10,000 adults and the variety of critical care nurses and CRNAs per 10,000 adults.

Using this rubric, the five states with the least access to health care are Utah, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Georgia.

According to Zoia Galarraga, senior public relations manager at , “Access to affordable health care is a challenge for many Americans across the country,” Galarraga said. “Additionally, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers, more than 100 million Americans, or nearly one-third of the nation, lack access to their usual source of primary care.”

Galarraga continued by offering potential solutions to the issue: “According to the Department of Health and Human Services, digital solutions such as telehealth can improve access to primary care by reducing transportation barriers and expanding the ability to offer services in languages ​​other than English.”

Galarraga concluded: “Having the best health insurance can also increase access to primary care and lower its costs. “Uninsured adults are less likely than those with health insurance to receive preventive services and screenings in a timely manner and are less likely to use primary care.”