Research Paper on:
Primary Care Access Difficulties

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Many people have a great deal of difficulty accessing primary care due to restrictions with their policies and/or lack of money to adequately meet their needs. The entire condition of  primary care seems to be up in arms over numerous issues concerning access to care. In the following paper we examine why it is difficult for some people to access  primary care and then we discuss ways in which primary care access can be improved. Why it is Difficult There are numerous reasons why many people find it  difficult to access primary care. One author states that, "For thirty-five years, health centers, alongside public hospitals, public health departments and free clinics, have formed the backbone of America s  health care safety net for millions of Americans who have difficulty accessing the traditional health care system" (Hawkins, 2000; p. NA). They claim that the people seen can be broken  down into categories which help us to understand what types of people have difficulty accessing health care. They first illustrate that "Every patient (a) lives in medically underserved rural, frontier,  or inner city community or (b) belongs to a medically underserved population, including migrant farm workers, the homeless, and those with linguistic or cultural barriers to care" (Hawkins, 2000; p.  NA). They can be further broken down into the following groupings: "40% lack health insurance coverage; 34% rely on Medicaid for coverage; and 85% are at or below 200% of  the Federal poverty level (FPL)" (Hawkins, 2000; p. NA). From this simple perspective we can see that some people simply do not make enough money to have a comprehensive  plan, others make too much to be on Medicaid and yet do not have health insurance because their employers dont cover it, and others who receive Medicaid are severely limited