Health insurance is a significant factor in helping to access quality healthcare services and ensuring people have a better lifestyle. However, there remains a disparity where everyone does not have access to health insurance and that mostly occurs due to social determinants of health or SDOH. Analysing and understanding the impact of different social determinants on health insurance is significant to creating policies, and ensuring equal access to all.
Hence in this article, we will explore all the important factors related to social determinants and how they impact the health insurance sector and terms of the policies.
What are the Social Determinants of Health?
SDOH are considered certain non-medical factors that influence the outcome of an individual’s health. It includes a significant range of social, environmental, economic and other conditions. Such determinants play a key role in shaping the well-being and health of communities and people.
The significance of SDOH resides in their capacity to either improve or impede chances for good health for a person. It also helps to lessen health inequalities across various communities and enhance health outcomes by addressing these underlying causes. Promoting health equity and guaranteeing that everyone has the chance to reach their optimal health are made feasible by this strategy.
Impact of Social Determinants on Health Insurance Policies
The social determinants of health tend to impact access to health insurance, along with its utilisation and affordability. It creates certain barriers and also some opportunities that influence whether a person can get and maintain the coverage of health insurance. Here are some major areas where SDOH impacts health insurance:
● Affording Health Insurance
The level of income of an individual has a direct impact on affording a health insurance plan. People with lower incomes have to face high premiums that make it difficult for them to get a comprehensive scheme. Hence social support or lack of it enhances financial challenges for the lower income group of people, thus facing social exclusion.
● Literacy in Health Insurance
Understanding the different health insurance plans, and their advantages and navigating them to the healthcare system can at times be challenging. Especially for individuals with limited education or less proficiency in English. This impacts the underutilisation of preventive care and getting essential services like health insurance.
● Utilising Health Services
Social determinants can influence the capacity of an individual to access health treatments, even after having a health insurance plan. People may find it difficult to go to doctor’s appointments due to transportation problems, and residing in places with a shortage of healthcare professionals may make it more difficult to get necessary treatments.
● Accessing Health Insurance Plans
Having economic stability is the most important factor that affects accessing health insurance policy. People with stable and well-paid jobs generally receive company health insurance plans. But, individuals with unstable employment might struggle to get their hands on affording private health insurance policies and rely on government plans.
Types of Social Determinants Influencing Health Insurance
There are mainly 5 key social determinants that tend to influence the health insurance policy an individual intends to purchase. They are discussed as follows:
1. Economic Stability
The main criteria that determine health insurance coverage are economic ones, such as income and work status. Higher earners and those in secure employment are more likely to be able to afford health insurance. However, individuals with lower salaries or in unpredictable job conditions typically encounter challenges in acquiring and retaining coverage.
2. Social and Community
Access to health insurance is significantly influenced by social networks and local support networks. Robust social networks may offer assistance and knowledge about the many possibilities for health insurance. The adoption of health insurance can be improved via community-based programmes that promote social cohesiveness and support.
3. Physical Environment
The physical living conditions of individuals have an impact on their health insurance status. Access to insurance and the opportunity to maintain health are greater in safe, well-resourced neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, people living in underprivileged regions may encounter several challenges, including poor housing conditions and restricted transportation alternatives, which might limit their ability to receive and use health insurance.
4. Education
Education impacts health literacy and the capacity to navigate the healthcare system. A higher level of education is linked to a better comprehension of health insurance advantages and alternatives, which facilitates the making of more informed coverage selections. For more details on how to navigate these options, you can click here to explore available plans.
5. Healthcare Services
Two important factors that influence health insurance are, the availability of healthcare services and their quality. People living in places where healthcare resources are plentiful are more likely to have full insurance coverage. Moreover, health insurance coverage can be favourably impacted by policies that increase access to healthcare and enhance the quality of services provided.
Bottom Line
Now that you know the determinants impacting an individual to get a health insurance policy, you must understand that ignoring your health needs is not a good thing for your or your family’s future. In order to increase health insurance coverage and guarantee that everyone can get the treatment they require without experiencing financial hardship, these socioeconomic determinants must be addressed by policymakers and common people.
