Barreras en la equidad sanitaria
Achieving this level of equity is a work in progress. In the current system, our most vulnerable communities are left behind and stuck in the reality of unmet needs. As of 2019, more than 74 million Americans didn't have access to dental coverage - three times the number of people who are medically uninsured. En algunos casos, la falta de cobertura se debe a la ubicación. More than 45 million Americans live in areas that do not have an adequate number of dentists to serve the local population, and 43% of Americans living in rural areas lack access to dental care. Socioeconomic barriers such as transportation and job flexibility also contribute to the oral health inequities.
Estas barreras y brechas perjudican de manera desproporcionada a las personas pobres y a las comunidades afroamericanas y de estadounidenses de ascendencia latina. According to recent research from the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health:
- Es un 68 % más probable que los adultos de raza negra no tengan sus necesidades de cuidado dental cubiertas en comparación con los adultos blancos.
- Latino adults are 52% more likely than white adults to have difficulty doing their job due to poor oral health.
- Nearly four in 10 Black and Latino adults reside in the 14 states where Medicaid’s adult dental benefits cover no services or emergency-only care.
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