The Issue of Healthcare in 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian'

The improvement of health via the prevention, treatment of disease, injury, illness, and physical and mental impairments in human beings is what health care is. In the United States there are health care improvements meanwhile in reservations there are a struggle in health care. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an example in which shows how the reservation is treated in healthcare. Healthcare is a very significant issue in both ways which can be beneficial and on the other hand a problem.

Healthcare can be based in a variety of things which can affect you. Having poor healthcare can lead up to how sick you can be, how your physical appearance is presented, and how you can think. When you have good healthcare you can prevent that. Having a substandard provider in the healthcare field can also affect your health. Having a small amount of doctors in a hospital or a reservation hospital can be a issue as well in health care.

Health care in the United States has caused human rights problem. With just the way health care in the United States is organized there are 101,000 preventable deaths per year. The resources are able to keep the right to health safe and have levels of health care recorded. According to the NESRI the article states, “Since social determinants, such as race, income and environment, strongly influence who becomes ill and who receives access to quality care, the health care crisis disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups and under-resourced communities, such as people living in poverty, people of color, and immigrants.” To me this shows how the United States healthcare is treated.

The United States spends more than an average on healthcare than any other country. Public healthcare in the United States are financed by the state, local, and federal in the communities. The health budget for the United States goes to about three to nine percent on the public healthcare. Access to medical care is also a principle key to healthcare. For many of Americans living in the United States medical care is limited. NCBI states , “In a 2010 Commonwealth Fund survey, only 70 percent of U.S. adults reported being confident or very confident that they would receive the most effective treatments (e.g., drugs, tests) if they were seriously ill.” This shows how many Americans are confident enough in health care and access to medical care in the United States.

Affordability in healthcare in the United Stated is an issue. Americans are faced with more of an expensive route with health than any other country. A patient in the United States with an illness or a emergency need of care spend more of one thousand dollars per year. Under the age of sixty-five twenty five percent of insured Americans have a hard time paying medical bills.

Healthcare in reservations is a different story compared to healthcare in the United States. There was a senate hearing due to witnesses concluding that healthcare in reservations were “horrifying” and “unacceptable.” The hearing said that through the IHS, Indian health service, stated that it can be dangerous and perhaps deadly. Medical daily stated, “She had reportedly been overmedicated by poorly-trained staff, none of whom were around to check up on her later in the night. She died on the hospital floor after falling from her bed.” This concludes how in reservations patients are treated and how there experience are when they need the healthcare. A immense issue on why health in reservations is poor is because of funding. The IHS gets on an average 4.4 billion in funding from the government , when in reality the IHS needs 15 billion.

Native Americans live on an average four years lesser than an American. This is due to having a higher risk factor in health like diseases, diabetes, suicide, and homicide. In certain areas in reservations seeing a doctor for a visit can be expensive and inconvenient. According to NBC news the article states, “Wealthier tribes can supplement the federal health service budget with their own money. But poorer tribes, often those on the most remote reservations, far away from city hospitals, are stuck with grossly substandard care.” This vocalizes that certain parts of reservations that do not have benefits have a poorer experience in health care and the prevention of your health.

Another important factor that NBC news pronounces in the article is, “American Indians have an infant death rate that is 40 percent higher than the rate for whites. They are twice as likely to die from diabetes, 60 percent more likely to have a stroke, 30 percent more likely to have high blood pressure and 20 percent more likely to have heart disease.” This winds up to see that healthcare on reservations have a big impact on the people living and their lifestyle. The health providers in reservations are not supported enough to handle serious medical conditions. Many of people living in the reservations live in poverty and in rural areas with a less than usual health care providers.

In the story The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian health care in reservations in being shown. The author Sherman Alexie, writes about a Native American teenger, Arnold Spirit Jr. Arnold goes through his life about living on the reservation as he goes through life.

In the book the narrator states, “My teeth got so crowded that I could barely close my mouth. I went to Indian Health Service to get some teeth pulled so I could eat normally, not like some slobbering vulture. But the Indian Health Service funded major dental work only once a year, so I had to have all ten extra teeth pulled in one day.” As Said earlier a major issue in healthcare is funding. The book shows that in dental care funding it is a big matter as Arnold has to go one day when the funding there.

As well as dental care there is also a healthcare problem when the story continues. The author states, “Indian Health Service also funded eyeglass purchases only once a year and offered one style: those ugly, thick, black plastic ones.” Like dental care coming once a year with funding there is also a concerned problem in eye care. The people are the reservation are offered the basic and generic thing in eyeglasses.

Healthcare is very dominant in both groups of Americans and reservations. Americans do have disadvantages but, not like people living on reservations. Healthcare in reservations is showed through the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as Arnold goes through his life living in the reservation. This shows an significant comparison in how Americans are treated in healthcare and how people living on reservations are living. Healthcare is very important for the way you are living and for the way you are trying to live.