Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Healthcare
The IHS:
A combination of underfunding and a lack of access to care facilities are typical barriers among the Native American population. Through the Indian Health Service (IHS) and other health centers, the federal government is required to provide direct medical care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Unfortunately, this organization is severely underfunded and only receives a fixed amount of money each year. The facilities on the reservation lands do not have proper equipment (such as MRI machines), and free drugs are exclusively available through these IHS establishments, which are hours away. As a matter of fact, IHS spending per person was $4,868 less than national healthcare funding (Kaiser Health News).The IHS's response to the current pandemic has made matters worse. Some tribal-run facilities reported having difficulties in treating their COVID-19 patients due to a lack of testing resources and personal protective equipment (PPE); in addition, not all IHS testing sites acquired rapid tests. In general, staffing shortages have been a long-standing problem within the IHS—the vacancy rate for care providers is 25 percent, ranging from 13 to 31 percent across eight different IHS locations ("Indian Health Service"). Consequently, IHS establishments fail to provide their patients with quality care and resort to sending them to receive treatment elsewhere. Targeting this problem is an issue in and of itself, as the IHS does not have access to agency-wide information on its number of temporary workers, preventing it from pinpointing the specific facilities that need more resources to improve IHS services across all its locations. Immediate action is essential, given that Native Americans and Alaskan Natives have the shortest life expectancies and are more likely to die from preventable causes than any other race in the United States ("Indian Health Service").
What Work Needs to be Done?
Philanthropy has enabled us to identify health disparities and has broadened our understandings of their trends among the US population. Through foundation-supported research and data collection, many organizations have provided the resources necessary to combat the flaws of America's healthcare disparities / system. However, philanthropy alone cannot achieve health equity for all: increased collaboration between nonprofits, government agencies, and communities is imperative to tackle the root causes of health disparities (Beatrice). For example, some institutions could from partnerships with government organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency to figure out how to address the issue of the prevalence of air and water pollution among minority and poor communities.
Furthermore, philanthropic efforts need to concentrate on reforming policy. Many nonprofits stray away from working directly with legislators since their mission statements are typically focused on fundraising or working on projects with health institutions and the community.
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