Factors like genetics, poor environmental conditions (including pollution), lack of access to quality care, and other social factors all contribute to the health disparity observed in our community across several health indicators. The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 has helped to cut down the number of uninsured Americans by nearly half. However, disparities in both access to care and insurance coverage persist.
Although insurance coverage rates for Black adults improved between 2013 and 2021, the number of uninsured adults in our community is still 5.3% higher than the number of uninsured white adults. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit that provides information and research on healthcare, blamed the disparity on the lower rates of private coverage among minority groups. While Medicaid has narrowed the differences, it doesn’t fully solve the problem.
The early morning shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, has led to the outpouring of testimonies from people whose medical claims were denied. Thompson’s widow Paulette, admitted in an interview with NBC that her husband received threats linked to “a lack of coverage”. Some of the testimonies shared publicly (although EBH could not independently verify them), highlighted how the US health insurance negatively impacts Black health.
How health insurance impedes quality care in the Black community
Unfortunately, having health insurance doesn’t always equate to improved access to quality and affordable care. This is due to health insurance denials. A KFF survey of adults with health insurance shows that 6 in 10 insured adults experience problems when they use their insurance. A 2022 publication in the National Library of Medicine showed that Black adults had significantly higher odds ratios of insurance denials due to cancer diagnosis compared to whites and other racial minorities. The researchers noted that this exacerbated the racial disparities in cancer prognosis.
People with employee-backed insurance or private insurance experience denial more often than those backed by public coverage (Medicaid and Medicare). The KFF research also found that patients who visit healthcare providers more than three times a year are more likely to experience denial. Interestingly, due to the factors we previously highlighted, Black adults are more likely to be in a situation where they’ll need to visit providers several times a year—which increases their risk of insurance denial.
1. Widening the poverty gap
According to the KFF report, about half of those who experienced denied insurance claims reported that they were unable to resolve the issue. The consequences of denied insurance claims further impoverish our community by forcing us to pay for expensive healthcare procedures out-of-pocket. Sometimes, that means pouring our entire life savings to save the life of a loved one. That ultimately impacts other aspects of our lives including nutrition, housing, recreation, and so on. However, there are other consequences of denied insurance claims in our community.
2. Avoidable loss of loved ones
Many testimonies that emerged after the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO highlighted how people lost their loved ones because their insurance claims were denied thereby denying their loved ones access to life-saving operations. On X, a user wrote “[UnitedHealthcare] denied my surgery two days before it was scheduled”, as sighted by CNN.
The bitterness of those who have lost loved ones through denied insurance claims echoed in the comments praising the perpetrator of the crime. Although the 26-year-old behind the shooting is facing a long jail term and a potential death sentence, some are calling for his release by insinuating UnitedHealthcare kills us daily with an insurance claim denial.
3. Potential rise in home remedies and self-medication
When families can’t access professional help because of cost constraints and denied claims, they are likely to seek nontraditional or alternative healthcare. While some of the alternative healthcare practices have proven health benefits, they often don’t provide holistic healing like professional care. This increases the chance of having more Black adults with underlying health conditions. Sadly, some of these underlying health conditions may contribute to infant mortality or increased birth defects, setting the foundation for unhealthy generations of Black populations.
How Black families are navigating health insurance denial
Historically, Black families have leaned on the shoulders of family members to get through trying times. Family members provide care to aging parents or contribute funds to support any member who needs medical attention. However, due to the rising cost of healthcare and dwindling income, many families are now looking elsewhere for support.
The popularity of crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe has surged, especially among Black families seeking assistance to cover the cost of vital operations. The number of medical-related campaigns launched on GoFundMe in 2020 was around 200,000 which was twenty-five times higher than the number of similar campaigns in 2011.
Although turning to broader community support has helped Black families to navigate the rising healthcare cost and increasing insurance claim denials, it also highlights the need to restructure long-standing insurance barriers on our path to quality and affordable healthcare. Policies that will ensure insurance companies don’t falsely deny healthcare claims are long overdue. The journey to more inclusive affordable healthcare is a collective battle—and together we stand a better chance of dismantling the structural barriers.
For more reading
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8872206
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/06/business/insurance-claim-denials-unitedhealthcare-ceo/index.html
https://prba.isr.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/taylor.pdf