In a society which has drastically changed since the Antebellum Period, America has greatly advanced in its quest to achieve equality opportunity for all; from attaining suffrage for women, to passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “by reason of color, race, religion, or natural origin” (“Transcript of Civil Rights Act”), discrimination toward minority groups have been reduced tremendously. Though great progress has been made, and explicit acts of discrimination are no longer as prevalent in society, there is still the issue of discrimination toward minority groups permeated in society in the form of implicit discrimination. While explicit discrimination is when individuals consciously discriminate, there is also …show more content…
In a report published in 2011 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, blacks had worse access to healthcare than whites by 39%, and Hispanics had worse access to healthcare than non-Hispanic whites by 63% (“Disparities in Healthcare Quality”). In addition, African Americans had “worse care than Whites for 41% of quality measures,” while Hispanics received “worse care than non-Hispanic Whites for 39% of measures” (“Disparities in Healthcare Quality”). A disparity of healthcare access and quality among races clearly exist, and though the Civil Rights Act laws and other legislations have helped equalize opportunities for minority groups, such discrepancies regarding healthcare access and quality can be explained by financial factors, and implicit discrimination involved with socioeconomic status and partisanship among medical …show more content…
In a research conducted in 2011 by the University of Texas and Columbia University, patients regularly receiving care at clinics in New York City and Houston were followed in order to determine whether socioeconomic status influences persistence of disparities in healthcare between those of low socioeconomic status (low SES) and those of high socioeconomic status (high SES). Individuals of low SES were defined as being “low-income, minority, Medicaid-Insured, or uninsured patients” (Begley et al). In order to determine whether socioeconomic status had any influence on healthcare received, patients were given questionnaires, which asked for the number of times they had been to the emergency room and whether they had gone to see a specialist doctor, such as a neurologist, cardiologist, or ophthalmologist within the past three months. The same questionnaires were given six months later in order to receive updates (Begley et al). Upon collection of data, researchers found that patients of low SES had “consistently higher probabilities of emergency room use...hospitalizations” (Begley et al). Of course, significant differences in the number of trips to the emergency room and hospitalizations between those of low SES and high SES raises the question-- are those of low SES are receiving lower quality of care than those of high SES? According to researchers of the University of