Media publication
The Disparities Report Highlights: Health Care Challenges for Racial and Ethnic Minorities is a media publication by the Kaiser Family Foundation that contains a health message. It is notable that this publication is aiming at addressing the issue of health facing racial and ethnic minorities. Apparently, it is definite that the publication targets the minor ethnic and racial groups in the United States.
It is imperative to point out that the publication entails coverage of numerous print materials and broadcast news that address health issues facing disadvantaged communities (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012). Therefore, this is evidence that can be used to support the claim that the publication targets minor ethnic and racial groups in the US. For instance, the article notes that other races such as the Latinos and Indian-Americans experience poor healthcare services as compared to non-white Hispanics.
In line with this, this publication is effective since it covers information provided by wide range of sources related to health care issues. In addition, it also entails summarized updates from peer-reviewed articles and journals that address issues related to health disparities. That notwithstanding, evidence has shown that the publication has derived some updated information from current research development on the same topic.
Needless to say, the publication can also be said to be effective due to the fact that it has clearly addressed the challenges being faced by ethnic and racial minorities. Moreover, it further explains how health disparity can be eliminated by enacting healthcare legislations in order to foster equal access to healthcare services. In this case, the publication also presents a review illustrating that the quality of health for the general population significantly improved from 2002 to 2008 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012).
President Barrack Obama
It is apparent that the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act that was signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010 was meant to bring about comprehensive health reforms in the US. It is also vital to note that this piece of legislation targeted to expand the coverage of healthcare services to all communities in the US (González, 2012). In order to achieve this, the legislation focuses on controlling healthcare costs to ensure that even the minor ethnic and racial groups get access to such services.
In addition, studies have shown that the act contains groundbreaking policies that have been used to decimate health disparities among the entire population in the US (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012). Notably, the act also ensures that quality measures are being taken to ensure that every individual receives quality healthcare. Sommers and Bindman (2012) observe that the new law will eventually bring about equality within the healthcare sector. The authors note that the law has triggered the expansion of health coverage whereby millions of individuals get quality healthcare at affordable costs.
Needless to say, Harrington, Ng, LaPlante and Kaye (2012) note that a huge coverage by the legislation has helped to reach out for people in marginalized areas. This has been achieved by expansion of community-based and home-based services. In this case, the legislation can be more effective to eliminate health disparities only if its policies will be followed strictly (Jerome-D’Emilia & Suplee, 2012). Furthermore, broadening the reforms will have moderate impacts to more beneficiaries, a factor that will make the legislation more effective. For instance, Moon (2012) asserts that the implementation of the act has brought about significant and positive healthcare changes in the US healthcare system.
References
González, C. (2012). The Implementation of the Affordable Care Act. POZ, 1(180), 1-8.
Harrington, C., Ng, T., LaPlante, M. & Kaye, H. (2012). Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services: Impact of the Affordable Care Act. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 24(2), 169-176.
Jerome-D’Emilia, B. & Suplee, P. (2012). The ACA and the Undocumented. The American Journal of Nursing, 112(4), 21-40.
Kaiser Family Foundation (2012). Focus on Health Reform: Summary of the New Health Reform Law. Web.
Moon, M. (2012). Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 24(2), 233-237.
Sommers, B. & Bindman, A. (2012). New Physicians, the Affordable Care Act, and the Changing Practice of Medicine. JAMA, 307(16), 16-97.