Healthcare Advocacy and Policy Reform to Address Health Disparities in the State of Maryland

Description

According to America’s Health Rankings 2019, the state of Maryland is the 18 healthiest states among all the 50 states in the United State of America. Conversely, one of the problems facing the state is high rate of smoking marijuana, and drug-overdose.  Additionally, state of Maryland usually misdirects its healthcare resources, and besides, there is a health disparity among Maryland residents which contributes to its 18th position in the ranking. Many Maryland residents do not have access to the programs which aim at increasing access to healthcare services.  However, people who reside in rural areas are affected especially the disabled and basically the ethnic minorities. According to Maryland Department of Health (MDH) Dashboard Measures (2020), the state of Maryland spends much of its healthcare resources in the downstream to take care of those patients suffering from all sorts of diseases. However, the preventive care should be put in place in order to prevent the development of certain health care issues at source.

According to Maryland Department of Health Value Dashboard, the state’s progress towards health value signifies that its residents are less healthy even though it is one of the states that spend most on healthcare in the United States. Additional research shows that Maryland residents don’t have adequate access to healthcare services as a result of social, economic, healthcare systems, and the physical environment.  Thévenard (2015) indicated that Maryland’s disburse on one person based on the Medicaid program for the elderly people are higher than any other states in the United States;. If this problem should continue, the state of Maryland will go down in its health ranking result, and could lead to unsustainable healthcare system as a result of the large number of people who are after secondary care

The state of Maryland is effective in its policies which can guide its spending based on healthcare. Conversely, it should focus on preventive care which will address the present health disparities experienced within the state (Data by Health Disparity, 2020).So far there is healthcare funding which is allocated to the state by the federal government, the only problem is the way the state spends its fund, and this can be addressed by implementing efficient policies in order to monitor the spending of healthcare resources (Stadhouders, Kruse, Tanke, Koolman, & Jeurissen. 2019)