Health Care in America

Medication and the Promotion of Mental and Physical Well-Being

Medication and the promotion of the mental and physical well-being of people through the services of the medical practitioners and the relevant practitioners is one of the largest and fastest expanding industries worldwide associated to prevention, care and the administration of disease. There are, for instance, diverse medical systems in the United States that represent unique populations in the country and provide medical and educational care.

The Medicaid Health Care Program

This was implemented with the Medicaid Health Care program for around 42 million people around the world. The number is inclusive of the poor and individuals who require health care services to attain healthy growth and developmental goals and meet their individual care needs. Substantially, the program covers low-income individuals like pregnant women, children, both severe disabled adults and children and the medically needy that meet the programs eligibility criteria. Moreover, the program is managed and financed cooperatively by the Federal and the States government. However, the state government covers over 50 percent of joint program expenditure. Medicaid programs depend comprehensively on private sector health providers, community health centers and managed care systems to deliver healthcare services to its intended population (Patel & Rushefsky, 2014). Nationally, the majority of the program_x0092_s beneficiaries are children while over 50 percent of the total Medicaid population is enrolled in Medicaid administered care programs and long-term services.

Sociological Theoretical Perspectives on the Medicaid Program

The above governmental Health Care program can be analyzed via the sociological theoretical perspective of Functionalism, Conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. According to functionalism theory, decent health and adequate medical care are fundamental for the smooth functioning of the society. Additionally, patients must accomplish the sick role to be accepted as legitimately ill and to be relieved from ordinary obligations. Also, the physical patient connection is hierarchical implying that the physician offers directives to the patient needs to follow them (Sahler, Carr, Frank & Nunes, 2012). Accordingly, the Medicaid program ensures that it covers patients_x0092_ sickness by administering their illness through offering efficient and affordable medical care to patients guaranteeing that it reduces the number of sick individuals in the society.

Healthcare Provision and Social Structures in America

In conflict theory perspective, sociologists seek to determine who benefits and who suffers in health care providence. Hence, the theory features social inequity in assessing the quality of both medical and healthcare rendered to diverse people in the society. As the theory stipulates, those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are most likely to receive inadequate health care services when they fall ill. Consequently, physicians have attempted to regulate the medical practice and define social challenges as medically facilitated hence depicting why health care delivery is diverse globally. However, in this case, the Medicaid program purpose is apparent that decent medical care and adequate healthcare are an essential need for every individual in the society (Sahler, Carr, Frank & Nunes, 2012). The aforesaid is evidence since the program has improved medical care delivery in the nation by providing economical health care to the disadvantaged, disabled, expectant women, people with special needs and low-income individuals across the US via their specialized physicians.

The Interactionist Perspective on Healthcare

Regarding the interactionist approach, health and sickness are socially constructed. The approach states that physical and mental conditions have no impartial reality but are instead regarded to as ill or healthy circumstances if they are perceived as such by the community members. Hence, the approach stipulates that medical practitioners administer the situations to display their prowess and medical knowledge (Sahler, Carr, Frank & Nunes, 2012). Therefore, the above theoretical perspective implies that the Medicaid program promotes fairness and also curbs the subjectivity evident in healthcare provision through its medical care delivery to a more extensive disadvantaged population that had limited access to health care via enhancing the relationship between medical providers and patients.

Social Structures and Access to Quality Healthcare in America

Primarily, different social structures affect individuals_x0092_ access to quality and affordable healthcare in America. Fundamentally, the social class structure in the society impedes a majority of low income and advantaged individuals’ access to quality and affordable healthcare in the community. Persons who are socially and economically disadvantaged in income, employment, education and other spheres cannot receive timely and appropriate medical care for their low average income. Besides, those mentioned above are less likely to afford the out of pocket healthcare costs even if they have health insurance covers. Additionally, low education individuals in the nation may encounter difficulties in discerning the best health care covers in the US complex healthcare systems hence lack medical insurance coverage (Mandal, 2014).

Different social groups are also a hindrance to quality medical care access to a majority in the US. Research indicates that cultural differences between patients and health practitioners create a barrier to healthcare access for people from different backgrounds. Moreover, considerable evidence depicts that many people hold insensible negative racial attitudes and stereotypes towards medical practitioners (Mandal, 2014). Likewise, a majority of practitioners have been reported to be influenced by racism and ethnicity in making clinical decisions hence their attitude and behaviors repulses a majority of people access to quality healthcare.

Healthcare Provision in the United States

Overall, healthcare provision in the United States is exceptional among industrialized countries. Moreover, the US does not have a uniform health system or health care coverage hence recently established a legislation mandating health care coverage for almost the entire population in America that has so far been promising. For instance, through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid health care programs among others have enabled access to adequate and affordable healthcare to a large population of the US as statistics indicate. Through the above programs, a majority of the disadvantages, low-income families, the elderly and the disabled in our church have recently had access to adequate medical care proving that it the programs are a success. Furthermore, the cooperation in medical expenditure coverage between the state and the federal government has seen many household access affordable medical insurances inclusive of our family via the federal-state sponsored programs and private delivery of healthcare. Therefore, regarding quality, the US can be top ranked in healthcare provision for its population for its highly rated medical specialists, medical care equity, efficacy, and healthiness of its citizens.

References

Mandal, A. (2014). _x0093_Disparities in Access to Health Care._x0094_ News Medical. Retrieved on 6th Aug 2014 from https://www.news-medical.net/health/Disparities-in-Access-to-Health- Care.aspx

Patel, K. & Rushefsky, E, M. (2014). Healthcare Politics and Policy in America: 2014. London: Routledge.

Sahler, J, O., Carr, E, J., Frank, B, J. & Nunes, J. (2012). The Behavioral Sciences and Health Care. Oxford: Hogrefe Publishing.