Humanity continues to fight cancer, trying to prevent people’s deaths. From 1991 to 2018, the cancer death rate in the United States decreased by more than thirty percent (Lin, 2022). However, cancer prevention and treatment are currently in a state where having health insurance is vital for patients. Even though there is tangible progress in this field, certain inequity remains. Different factors like gender, age, ethnicity, financial condition, and place of living affect the number of people cured of this disease. The issue is that types of health insurance like Medicare are not affordable for many American residents. It is stated that “from 1973 to 2007, black patients had higher rates of death from breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, or prostate cancer than white patients” (Lin, 2022). Similar statistics can be seen in the comparison of rural and urban areas citizens. In this case, the population of cities has a lower mortality rate.
In the US, people with private health insurance are more likely to have cancer screening and access to medical care. However, inequity’s point is not only in affordability but also in other factors like age. Medicare health insurance starts working after the person reaches sixty-five years old. In this case, if someone discovers the disease at an earlier age, they could not use their insurance to get treatment. Making insurance programs more available for people of different incomes, races, ages, and other characteristics is the key to improved statistics and more lives saved. Another way is government-assisted health insurance programs that can give people with lower capabilities more chances to win this battle. Every person deserves proper treatment in case of severe illnesses like cancer.
References
Lin, M. (2022). Health insurance is key to improved equity in cancer care. Conquer. Web.