It is hard to disagree that healthcare is one of the most essential and necessary spheres of life. However, there are certain disadvantages in this system, and a number of severe problems are not entirely addressed or eliminated. Determinants of health, which are rather important conditions, include the range of environmental, economic, social, and personal factors influencing health status (“Determinants of health,” 2020). Among other things, determinants of health explore the ways of creating a society in which all people have a chance to live a long, happy, and healthy life despite their social statuses. Hence, one of the objectives is to eliminate disparities and barriers to receiving proper and effective treatment.
With the help of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), access to mental health care among people with low income and from ethnic and racial minorities was improved significantly. However, there are still certain barriers related to health insurance and the mental health population (Novak et al., 2018). Specific disparities may contribute to the problem of increasing mental diseases and the inability of some people to receive proper care. It should be mentioned that in the U. S. uninsured people with a mental health condition are at a great risk and need to be protected. These individuals are those with low income, of ages from 18-64 years old, and different nationalities.
Patients with mental health diseases tend to lack support and help, as well as have fewer persons who can improve their condition by simply being nearby. Together with this factor, limited access to proper treatment may significantly worsen the mental health population’s problems (Novak et al., 2018). That is why it is of vital importance to make this issue a priority and develop special healthcare programs for all those persons who have troubles with paying for an effective treatment or getting extended insurance (Novak et al., 2018). Population with mental illnesses should not find high-cost barriers to accessing care, and unique health insurance plans covering all or almost all necessary expenses should be created for people with low income. Otherwise, if this problem remains unsolved, the number of patients with mental health diseases of various degrees who have no resources to help themselves will continue growing.
References
Determinants of health. (2020). Healthy People. Web.
Novak, P., Anderson, A. C., & Chen, J. (2018). Changes in health insurance coverage and barriers to health care access among individuals with serious psychological distress following the affordable care act. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 45(6), 924–932.