Kountze Commons Combatting Disparities in Health Care

The disparities in health care across the country, and in the state of Nebraska, are substantial.

“Almost 30% of American Indians that live in Nebraska do not have health insurance,” University of Nebraska Omaha Public Policy and Social Equity Assistant Professor Dr. Barbara Gomez said. “They are followed by Latinos who pretty much 1 in every 5 Latinos that live in Nebraska do not have access to health insurance, and about 19 percent of African Americans.”

Under the state’s expanded Medicaid program those gaps are expected to decrease.

“About 90,000 Nebraskans will now be able to benefit from the expansion of Medicaid,” Gomez said.

While Medicaid is expected to make that difference, a few organizations in Omaha have worked together to help the under-served population.

“We know it’s a big need in the community. We know this is something that if we can get whole health care going and have so many services in one place, we know that’s best for a lot of our patients who maybe don’t have all of their necessities met,” Methodist Community Health Clinic Behavior Health Counselor Jillian Reitz said.

KMTV: Kountz Commons Combatting Disparities in Health Care