Question
Briefly summarize the issue(s) raised in your selected article. Define a health disparity, i.e. identify two populations (groups of people) and a health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Explain how the issue(s) raised in your article related to at least one theory of health disparities (refer to the figure above). Describe how this theory of health disparities can be interpreted as a change in one of the parameters of the Grossman model, e.g. health productivity, resource constraints, the health depreciation rate, total productive time, or the rate of time discounting. Describe how you would model this theory of health disparities using the framework of the Grossman model, e.g. an inward shift of the MEC curve, an outward shift of the MEC curve, an inward shift of the PPF curve, an outward shift of the PPF curve, an increase in the rate of return on an investment in health, or a decrease in the rate of return on an investment in health. Please be sure to clearly state your logic and support your arguments with information from the assigned articles and lectures. All sources should be properly cited. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/
Answer
Health Economic Perspectives Concerning; Poor Americans with Respiratory Health Problems
Health disparity refers to the variance in the occurrence, the spread, and the mortality rate the disease burden, amongst other serious conditions existing amongst. According to ‘Poor Americans More Likely to Have Respiratory Problems, Study Finds’ from the New York times, there has been noted a great health disparity with concern to the asthma conditions amongst Americans. As much as there have been efforts put forward to contain and prevent the disease, many people living below the poverty line tend to suffer from the disease because of the continuous use of tobacco.
This case of asthma spread amongst Americans relates to the artifact theory of health disparity. This theory explains that inequalities in health arise due to the measurement of the process. The paper accounts that both classes are measurements of process. The study accounts that the contraction in unskilled and semi-skilled laborers, making them older and sicker compared to other labor forces, and as a result, there are persistent class gradients which is a contributor to the rates of mortality between age groups.
The Grossman model integrated various parameters which contribute to the demand for health. These include; age, health status, education, and income. The study investigates how the parameters affect the production in health via the health capital demand. health is therefore viewed as production and consumption good. Concerning the artefact theory, the ideology it relates to the changes in income parameter. The study focuses on class inequalities which explain the gap existing between the rich and the poor. The poor have little access to information, hence fail to afford/ to be creative enough to create employment. As a result, they cannot afford health services. The concept of tightening of the semi-skilled and the unskilled workers can be explained in terms of mortalities linked with occupations.
Health complications from occupations relate to the productivity of an individual. The older population held in the informal labor force are of age, which causes lower productivity, hence low-income earnings, extending the poverty-prone, population. Eventually, they are unable to afford resources which leads to adversity and the prevalence of diseases. In other words, some health policies do not tend to work accordingly to the people with less or no skills in the labor force, with relation to the health services purchasing power.
Linking the artefact theory to the MEC and PPF curve, we consider the income effect. The poor people mostly receive incomes in which they are barely able to afford health commodities. As such income differences only reduce the medical expense. Hence accounts for lower capital investment in health. Constraints low and unskilled laborers imply that most educated earn more which relates to higher capital investments in health. This will cause the interest rates to shift low than the equilibrium rates, as illustrated below;
If there is an incentive to lower the interest rates, the investment increases as both the poor and rich can afford it. On a PPF curve, the artefact theory implies that at any given time, the health resource is not fully employed due to a lack of enough capital in terms of practitioners, medicine, and specialized health services.