Doesn’t equal access to care eliminate health disparities?
No. Equal access to health care does not eliminate inequalities in health or even inequalities in health care among populations. Studies have shown that inequalities in health and health care can occur in systems that provide equal access to health care, such as the National Healthcare System in the United Kingdom, and within the VHA here in the US. Such inequalities in health may occur because many of the most important determinants of health, such as income, education and environment, have little to do with the quality or delivery of health care. Inequalities in health care within equal-access systems could be due to systemic factors, patient factors or factors having to do with the patient-provider interaction.
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