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Disenfranchisement In America Essay

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Disenfranchisement is the state of being deprived of a right or privilege. In America, many groups of people fall into this category, but who is really disenfranchised? A primary factor of disenfranchisement takes place in America's health care systems. This is due to an increase in poverty throughout the nation.
Being admitted into a hospital can sometimes lead to many expensive medical bills. This is not a problem for the wealthy or middle class. However, for those who live in poverty or are even just in between jobs this presents a major problem. How will they be able to pay for these expenses?
According to the University of Califorina, Davis, the current estimate of the poverty rate in the United States is roughly 14.3 percent. UC Davis learned that "based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 estimates... an estimated 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty (that year)." What are the odds that these 43.1 million people did not accumulate any medical expenses? Zero. The health care system is one of the largest industries in the nation. It employs nearly twelve and a half million people. Even though this many people are employed by health care systems, there is little to no competition between the many different systems. This results in the cost being whatever the system wants. People who are ill or …show more content…

Higher spending on health care is a concern to both public and private insurance policymakers. An increase in medical expenses leads to a decrease in other public expenditures. It limits public spending on other more desirable goods and services. According to Improving Health Policy and Management by Stephen M. Shortell and Uwe E. Reinhardt, "higher health care costs make it increasingly costly to expand coverage to the 33 million Americans who are without health insurance." Therefore, those who are currently without health insurance will most likely go through great difficulties in order to obtain

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