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By Jaelyn Davis, Michael Maizel, Tulsi Patel, Symone Welch, and Shamar Wilson

Playlist

With a focus on how health insurance policies have impacted the United States, this playlist examines the US healthcare system on a national, state, and county level. These three perspectives are complemented with an analysis on the rural-urban divide in NC and explores how the mental health of minority groups are affected by disparities within health insurance policies. The playlist begins with Crystal Deshazor, who discusses her and her infant daughter’s experiences with Medicaid-appointed doctors that misdiagnosed and dismissed her problems. Upon seeing a regular doctor outside of Medicaid, though, their health issues were remedied. Regarding the national level of health policies, Angela Salamanca mentions her experience of putting her mother in an assisted living facility in Colombia. In a two-part clip, Christine Tabb speaks about how her income put her three dollars over the limit for Medicaid and offers a comparison to the European healthcare system. On a state level, Lyman Henderson, a dentist in North Carolina, expresses his frustrations about how he can’t perform any major surgeries on his patients with Medicaid. Albrea Crowder, a health administrator, discusses how many of her customers choose home health because of the expenses of doctor visits. From a localized perspective, Rossie Lindsey, a Chatham County resident, highlights her family’s access to healthcare prior to and after the introduction of the Affordable Care Act. In regards to the rural-urban healthcare divide, Darlene Spencer-Harris, a community organizer, discusses how many patients do not have access to transportation because they do not have Medicaid, decreasing the accessibility of healthcare. Denise Hunter, a physician, details how her father suffered from depression after a hospital policy prevented him from being able to work in a United States hospital because his credentials from another country were not accepted. Nor was it taken seriously by the healthcare professionals he spoke to. By incorporating numerous distinct viewpoints, this playlist sheds light on the multifaceted US healthcare system.

Student Essays

A Full Picture of Chatham County, North Carolina

By Shamar Wilson Chatham County often referred to as “The Heart of North Carolina” is geographically situated in the center of the state, comprising three towns; Pittsboro, Siler City, and Goldston. As a 14-year Pittsboro resident—who’s utilized the many services … Read more

Distrust, Transportation, and Home Remedies in Rural NC

By Tulsi Patel Nefertiti Byrd, a business owner in the rural town of Warrenton, NC, speaks about how her physician wasn’t “somebody that you grew up with or somebody in your family that you knew” (Byrd 0:19:24). Regardless, she continued … Read more

The Lack of Access to Health Insurance and Its Impact on the Mental Health of Immigrant Communities

By Jaelyn Davis In the United States, a period occurred where an influx of nurses and doctors were recruited from other countries to work in U.S. hospitals, reaching its peak between the 1970s and 1980s (healthandpolicy.org). An individual who was … Read more

How Does Economic Status Influence Health Insurance in the U.S Compared to Other Countries ?

By Symone Welch Jonathan  Oberlander, a professor of health policy and management, said it best: “U.S. health policy has also been an abject failure, having produced an inequitable, inefficient, and irrational non system that is the most expensive in the … Read more

An Examination of the Racial Divide in the American Healthcare System

By Michael Maizel Since the liberation of the thirteen colonies from foreign control, healthcare inequities have been a major source of tension among Americans. Although the Declaration of Independence claims that all men are created equal, African Americans have typically … Read more