The United States is experiencing a decline of the middle class. What does this trend imply for the future of organizations such as:
(a) the U.S. Public Health Service, which operates many inner-city health clinics for the economically disadvantaged, and
(b) the Scripps Clinic, a large multi-specialty group practice in southern California? For years, the Scripps Clinic was seen as an exclusive medical provider known not only for treatment but for research.
Research the possible consequences and contribute to the discussion with 3 posts.
All your posts should be substantial, not just a couple of quick sentences.
Your initial post should be written by Sunday 09/18 and two other posts, commenting on your classmates posts by Sunday 09/25.
Late initial posts will lose 50% of the grade.
Use APA 7 Format and list your references if any.
you only have to reply to this classmate not 2 because there no other classmate at the moment
Shong Chang
9/16/22, 12:53 AM
U.S. Public Health Service
As prices increase and salaries remain the same, the middle class is feeling the challenge of maintaining afloat. Thus, the bills will continue to pile high and the decisions to maintain healthy lifestyles will decrease. According to Trumbull (2021), the middle class is vulnerable to economic changes as median incomes decline, despite the rising health care costs and college tuition. Therefore, the middle class avoids hospital visits as much as possible because they simply cannot afford the bill or do not have insurance coverage. For many middle-class individuals, the risk of an emergency room cost is not worth the trip. Thus, the public health service is affected by a decline in the middle-class population. Moreover, “nearly a quarter of the nation’s 45 million non-elderly uninsureds are middle class” (Health Care and The Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage, 2009). Studies have also shown that the self-health-mediating reports in different classes differ from one another, “the lower the social class, the lower the self-reported physical and mental health” (Xiaoyong hu et al., 2021).
Scripps Clinic
The Scripps Clinic offers a wide range of primary care and highly/coordinated specialized care. As the middle class are their primary patient population, they will see a decrease in patients, thus leading to less profit. Furthermore, the clinic offers different types of care and services, specifically in areas of large attraction to individuals. Such as bariatric surge, cosmetic dermatology, organ, and cell transplantation, orthopedic surgery, primary care, and plastic surgery (Scripps Clinic, 2022). Offers such as these will require full or partial insurance coverage. Overall, if middle-class individuals are struggling to maintain paying bills and “keeping food on the table” then insurance would either be unaffordable or limited. Thus, there will be little to no visits to the hospital.
