Impact of Income and Social Status on Health Essay

Impact of Income and Social Status on Health - Essay Example Studies have shown that there are no clear lines in the operation of these variables because they cut across certain universal truths. For instance, lifestyle diseases have demonstrated prevalence across the income and age divides in recent times (Skolnik, 2008; Mirowsky & Ross, 2003). Therefore, the effect of income and social status on health should be determined from an aggregate of factors that work in the modern society. Income and Social Status Health is significantly reliant on the variables of income and social status. Naturally, high-income status and socio-economic status play a positive role on matters of health. Individuals and groups placed at higher income levels and socioeconomic status have a wider choice when it comes to matters of health (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003). On the other hand, individuals with low-income levels and socioeconomic status could be more vulnerable to some of the common challenges that attend to the subject of health. Similarly, richer countries that manifest high levels of per-capita income are more likely to engage health challenges than poor countries. However, a range of studies has reinforced the fact that populations in both rich and poor countries are not homogenous (Riegelman, 2009). Categories within these populations will manifest different levels of capacities to engage with health challenges. As a result, it becomes necessary to determine the kind of issues that affect various sections of populations basing purely on the variable of income and social status.... The United States is one of the countries that has appreciated the challenges brought about by inequalities in income and social status in relation to matters of healthcare. The United States has developed legal structures to ensure some form of parity in healthcare provision across the income divide (Levine, 2009). The American Healthcare Bill otherwise known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act was aimed towards addressing the income and social status components of health care. The merits of this bill are anchored in its vigorous advocacy of affordable healthcare for all American citizens. Deliberate restructuring in the sector have been made so that the burden of the cost of medication might shift more on collective taxation, the state and insurance firms rather than on individuals (Levine, 2009). The Health Care Bill proposes a number of safeguards that are meant to shield the citizenry from the unsteady costs of medical care. The bill sought to restore stabil ity and predictability in the expenditure on medical care. The primary concern was that a revised form of insurance systems would distribute the costs of medical care equally across various statuses, and other social stratifications. Towards this objective, the bill provided that people who earned more should be made to incur more in medical care than those who earned less. Another important safeguard of this bill was that it would no longer be possible for insurance firms to abandon their clients who became ill. This particular measure was aimed to arrest a sweeping trend where insurance firms deregister clients who are taken ill. For medical professionals this bill means