Student name

Capella University

NHS-FPX 6008

Professor Name

Submission Date

Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

The performance of the services and the performance of the service delivery within the communities are calculated as per the healthcare economics. The economic barriers could not allow the opportunity to reach the preventive and primary care in a timely manner. It incorporates the insurance cover, the deterrent out-of-pocket charges, and the incompetence of the provider. The case under analysis is the economic issue of health care locally, the lack of accessibility of health care services within the African American population. The problem is also related to delay in treatment, excessive use of emergency services, and the increased percentage of preventable complications. This increases the cost that patients and health systems incur.

Health Care Economic Issue: Lack of Access to Health Care

The African American population is unable to access affordable and equal health care, and this is an indication that this is one of the biggest economic dilemmas in health care in the United States. The existing standing inequality in the economy and institutionalized racism as the root cause of this problem contributed to the social determinants of health and the inhibition of access to regular health care. African Americans are susceptible to living in underserved areas in comparison to medicine, lack health coverage, and even have financial trouble, so primary and preventive medical care services are not accessible (Albert et al., 2024).

These restrictions to the economy may be regarded as one of the causes of the higher frequency of manifestation of such chronic illnesses, like hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, in the comparison with those of White. African Americans are almost twice as likely and three times more prone to put medical care on the back burner, as it is costly, which indicates that economic inequity has a direct relationship with the health status and life expectancy.

Supporting Data, Information, and Observations

The reason behind this is that economic barriers to care is one of the most outstanding explanations of why the Africans Americans are experiencing such ill health results. In one of the research works, it has been noted that one in five African Americans is below the federal poverty line, and this implies that they cannot afford healthcare insurance coverage and that they cannot even afford to pay out-of-pocket medical bills (Egede et al., 2023). There is low occupancy in the number of primary healthcare physicians and screenings in other urban centers of the city, like Baltimore and Atlanta, according to the polls. There is also more difficulty with accessibility to other hospitals, as the African Americans have to travel long distances, and because of the lack of culturally competent providers, thereby raising the disparity in access.

Rationale for Choosing the Issue

The variables, including the lack of access to health care among African Americans, have been selected due to the fact that it is one of the hardest and most unfair economic health care differences in the United States. This problem is a conclusion of profound economic and structural injustices that limit access to care, the quality of treatment, and health outcomes (Jindal et al., 2023). Lack of insurance coverage and inability to get preventive and specialized care are even more common among African Americans and even worse they place them at greater risk of incurring higher health expenses both at the individual level and in the community in the long run.

Personal Experiences and Values Influencing the Choice

The choice of this issue is connected with the personal and professional principles according to which the equality and fairness of health care are valued. My cases of those people in disadvantaged areas, either cannot or cannot want to be treated because of their financial ability or lack thereof, have solidified my stance of fair access as a human right of equal status (Whitman et al., 2022). These experiences have enabled me to progress my social justice philosophy, and hence, my proposed policies will eliminate the economic and racial barriers in the care provision process.

Impact on My Work, Organization, Colleagues, and Community

The issue of African American population inaccessibility to health care has greatly impacted the practice in my field and the workplace in the organization. The fact that the patients had to endure the illnesses at their advanced stages due to the delays in seeking care also means that the treatment would be more complex and expensive (Kusma et al., 2023). This is because of the workload pressure on the healthcare personnel in using emergency services instead of preventive care. Clinicians in my organization are also prone to moral and emotional distress because of the inability to provide the patients with treatments and follow-ups (Yearby et al., 2022). On the neighborhood scale, the issue promotes the rise of avoidable hospitalization and the fraying of the chronic illness treatment, which discredits the degree of trust in the health machine and overworks the population.

Greater Impact on Diverse and Lower Socio-Economic Groups

It is an economic issue that has been overused against the African Americans and other minority ethnic communities that live in low-income neighborhoods disproportionately. The lack of access to affordable healthcare, transportation, and culturally competent care further exposes Black individuals to health inequities, as the percentage of uninsured persons among Black people below the age of 65 (9.7% versus White people 6.5 percent) is higher, and the likelihood of Black adults to be uninsured was 1.5 times higher than the likelihood of White adults (kffcarenec, 2025). The status means that the low-income earners cannot afford medicines, health check-ups, or health insurance, hence leading to a rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases that go untreated.

Identifying the Gap Contributing to the Issue

The fact that economic and structural inequality are ubiquitous throughout the health system of the U.S. has been the key gap that is contributing to the inability to access health care in the African American community. The unrelated problems faced by the great majority of African Americans are the inability to pay for insurance, the absence of such providers in disadvantaged areas, and culturally competent care (Knowles et al., 2023). This disparity is enhanced by the inequality of allocation of health facilities because poor communities and minorities may lack hospitals, primary care clinics, and preventive health services.

Speaking of the racial disparity in the coverage, Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity gives the statistics according to which in 2023, Black people are the most uninsured group (9.7%), and White people are the least uninsured group (6.5) (kffcarenec, 2025). This lack of insurance cover would be more inclined to approach the emergency departments under the guise of non-emergency cases, which can only contribute to increased burden on the health system, not to mention the costs in totality.

Conclusion

The health care inaccessibility in the African American population is a significant economic issue, as it contributes to a rise in preventable morbidity, mortality, deferral in treatment, and recourse to more expensive emergency and inpatient treatment. It further strains the health care personnel and the organizational resources when the patients present more complex needs. The lower levels of the socio-economic population are more affected as they are affected by the hindrances of insurance turbulence, transportation limitation, and the local provider count. The identified gap, which consists of the unequal access to affordable coverage and regular primary care, would be addressed with the help of the solution that would facilitate improved health outcomes and reduce unnecessary costs of the community and the healthcare system.