Group 14 IDS

1. EXAMINING
INSTITUTIONAL
DISCRIMINATION IN
HEALTH CARE Hailey Disch
Megan Heller
Lillian Jordan
Brenda Maier
Dayanara Molina
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• Dayanara Molina
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October 7, 2022

2. Examining Institutional Discrimination in Health Care
Outline
1. Who benefits from institutional discrimination in health care.
2. Who is disadvantaged by institutional discrimination in
health care.
3. Historical examples in which health care advantages some
social groups and disadvantage other social groups.
4. Contemporary examples in which health care advantages
some social groups and disadvantage other social groups.
5. How healthcare is attempting to reduce the inequities.

3. Who benefits from institutional discrimination in health care.
 Insured Individuals
 Having access to employer based, and government issued health insurance creates the largest group of advantaged
individuals.. As of 2022 8% of the US population does not have access to health insurance. (Sietz, 2022)
 Men
 Men are frequently taken more seriously and considered to be much more trustworthy in their reported symptoms in
comparison to non-men.
 White Individuals
 White privilege is something that is embedded in everything, including the healthcare institution. White people are
often prioritized in the current system, and benefit from more resources in comparison to minority groups. Often it has
been discovered that health care workers are uniformed about health and dietary needs of non-white individuals, for
instance that lactose is not tolerated well among many minority groups.
 U.S Citizens
 As of 2020, a large portion of non-US citizens including both documented and undocumented individual remain
uninsured. While not all US Citizens are guaranteed health care, the percentage of difference in health care coverage
by non=citizens and citizens is quite large and is therefore a group that benefits from out health care institution.
 Able Bodied People
 People without disabilities are taken more seriously and are respected more by doctors because they are seen as less
dramatic
 Disabled people are often interpreted and stereotyped as lazy, which gives an opposite affect for people without those
disabilities.

4. Who is disadvantaged by institutional discrimination in health care?
African Americans and other minorities have a disadvantage in healthcare. African Americans
and other minorities have less access to medical care due to higher rates of under paying jobs
and unemployment rates. With little to no money their access to good health care is denied.
African Americans and other minorities also have a hard time being insured due to about
fourteen states refusal to expand their Medicaid.
• For Black mothers and babies, the infant and
maternal mortality rates are higher than white
mothers and babies. African American babies die
before there is one at a rate of 11.4 every 1,000.
African American mothers die from childbirth causes
about 42.8 per 100,000. More than double the rates
of white babies and mothers.
• 30 million people are uninsured and of that 30 million
half of it are uninsured African Americans and other
minorities.
• Another fact is that one in five African Americans are
uninsured, compared to about everyone and eight for
white Americans.

5. Contemporary Examples of Discrimination in Health Care
Within the healthcare industry, there are many different norms in society that bleed into the quality-of-care people
receive and whether they receive care at all. An example of not being able to receive care would occur with people
who are not legally U.S. citizens. Immigrants are at a higher risk of not receiving care at all because of this; and
while some people are able to receive that care, being able to cover the costs is another disadvantage for some.
People that are lower in social class are often unable to afford health care and will go without care because of it or
have a mountain of debt from receiving the care. The quality-of-care individuals receive can also be affected
strongly by an individual's race and/or gender. An article called “Racial Bias in HealthCare: What You Need to Know”
touches on how black women are more likely to die from pregnancy complications, black people are more likely to
be overly diagnosed with mental health disorders, and that Asian, Native Americans, and Hispanics were found to
have higher death rates from Covid19. (Lockett. 2022.) In relation to gender, many healthcare professionals will
often disregard or ignore reported symptoms from people that are not cisgender males. Historically speaking, the
diagnosis of Hysteria, which was primarily diagnosed in women, was often used to describe women that did not fit
the societal standard for women. This gave men the ability to force hospitalization for women who did not need it.
Another example of this in a more modern times is how doctors still often do not take women seriously when they
report pain, dismissing them and potentially putting them at risk. A group that benefits from our current systems is
mostly white cisgender men. When researching healthcare disparities, this group very rarely came up; although,
they were brought up in relation to mental health, in that they are often misdiagnosed because their symptoms and
actions in relation to the illness are not researched as often as other groups such as women. A group that has
suffered from more recent rulings in our government system is the LGBT+ community. This year, a Texas court ruled
that Christian corporations are not required to cover costs for Prep and HIV medications. This was done in the
interest of religious freedom, but at the cost of the health and safety of the queer community.

6. Historical Examples of Discrimination in Health Care
There are many factors that played a role in how people were cared for and treated in the past.
 Slave owners, scientist and physicians believed that black people were fundamentally and biologically
different from white people. In the 19th century a set of “peculiarities” was established to distinguish
them from white people, this included having thicker skulls, less sensitive nervous systems, and belief
that diseases inherent in dark skin. “Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations
(Hoffman. 2016) Patient now still go undertreated for pain.
 Homeless people have a harder time getting necessary treatment. Due to gov. established thresholds for
Medicaid eligibility, many under the poverty line were eliminated for insurance. (Zlotnick. 2013)
 Information is withheld from minorities that have an impact on how their health is taken care of and
approached, but in this case, it was not due to race/ethnicity but because their socioeconomic status
accounted for the type of care they were receiving. In 1998, it was reported that 68.1% of white women
reported having a mammogram and for women of color it was reported that between 44.6% to 64%. It
was seen that women who had regular physicians were recommended more screenings and test than
those women who were more vulnerable. Cancers were detected later in minority women. (Glanz.
2003)

7. Inequities Affect Everyone
 In the beginning months of the Covid-19 pandemic black
and Latino death rates were almost double of those of white
people
 Even though these communities were hit the hardest, the
rollout of vaccines were disproportionately available to
white communities.
 Vaccine appointment times needing to be scheduled via the
internet, was also an issue preventing poorer communities
from gaining easy access to vaccinations.
 While a large population of the country was being
vaccinated, leaving other large portions of the population
unvaccinated, allowed the virus to continue to spread.
Easier Access to Health Care Reduced Racial Inequities
 As of September 15, 2022, more than 266.5 million doses
of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
 Pharmacies were chosen as the main access sites for
vaccines because most Americans live within five miles of a
pharmacy.
 Covid’s racial gaps have narrowed and more recently, even
flipped. This has happened thank to intense outreach
efforts by medical workers, community organizers, and
others. (Leonhart, David. 2022. “Covid and Race” New York
Times.)
 Government programs were enacted to mail at-home kits
directly to any individual who requested them.
 While there are still many disparities among communities of
color and white communities, with covid, we were able to
reduce the vaccination gap, using a similar model could
help resolve other racial disparities.
How Healthcare is Attempting to Reduce Inequities.

8. Bibliography
 Sietz, Amanda. 2022 “Number of Uninsured Americans Drop to an All-Time Low” PBS.org
 Lockett, Eleesha. 2022 “Racial Bias in Health Care: What You Need to Know” Healthline
 Hoffman, Kelly et al. 2016. “Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations,
and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites” National Library of
Medicine
 Zlotnick, Cheryl et al. 2013.”Health Care for the Homeless: What We Have Learned in the Past
30 Years and What’s Next” National Library of Medicine
 Glanz, Karen et al. 2003. “Cancer-Related Health Disparities in Women” National Library of
Medicine
 (Leonhart, David. 2022. “Covid and Race” New York Times.)