The public healthcare system in the United States is very expensive, and without healthcare insurance, it would break the bank for middle and lower-class families. However, some people either do not have insurance or their insurance plan is not optimal. This is prevalent in rural states of America. This also includes other disparities based on location. It is an established notion that the American healthcare system is fraught with problems, and some of these dilemmas are attributed to the high cost of care (Young & Kroth, 2017). This contributes to the worsening health state and poor health practices.
These people tend to avoid hospital visits, look for cures in holistic medicine, or try out home remedies that they hear about from others. These home remedies tend to get out of hand as there are some questionable “cures” that may include remedies like urine therapy (Jutta M, 2010). Self-medication may be extremely dangerous as, in some cases, it leads to infections that can be fatal if untreated. Unfortunately, the rural community believes firmly in these miraculous cures rather than believing medically researched facts. Therefore, they continue to practice these unhealthy remedies. Although they believe that these practices save money, ironically, this often leads to bigger medical bills. Lack of education is also a contributing factor due to the misinformation about medicines and vaccines. This leads them to disregard the medical experts and their fact-based opinions (Leider et al., 2020).
As long as the cost of healthcare facilities is beyond the reach of common people, their search for alternative practices will continue, making it a difficult challenge to overcome. With the cost of living rising every day, there seems to be no solution for this in the foreseeable future other than educating people and hoping that they would choose wisely.
References
Jutta M, L. (2010). The Golden Fountain—Is urine the miracle drug no one told you about? The Pan African Medical Journal, 5, 13.
Leider, J. P., Meit, M., McCullough, J. M., Resnick, B., Dekker, D., Alfonso, Y. N., & Bishai, D. (2020). The State of Rural Public Health: Enduring Needs in a New Decade. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1283–1290. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305728
Young, K. M., & Kroth, P. J. (2017). Sultz & Young’s Health Care USA. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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