Building A Pro-Black World

The US “Healthcare System” Is a Misnomer—We Don't Have a System

Amira Barger

Healthcare in the United States is a social contract—and an outdated one. I learned this firsthand while working in community clinics across Dallas, Texas. There, I sought to address patient needs holistically by helping patients navigate social services, including access to food, shelter, jobs, education, healthcare, and more. After years of navigating the murky waters of state‐sponsored health insurance and social services, I realized that the current system not only doesn't work for everyone—it doesn't even work as a system. States collect and share data in disparate ways.¹ Our medical billing is a mess,² and public, corporate, and nonprofit health entities operate in silos.³ In fact, anyone who has worked in the so‐called system will tell you that these various entities work against one another, rather than together to meet communities' needs.

Equitable Care

The solution is a system that takes into account the totality of our linked human experience and treats us all as whole persons.

Holistic‐minded health solutions seek to address health literacy, food insecurity, transportation, housing, and other factors known as the social determinants of health. According to one report, “Positively affecting one or more social determinants of health generally requires the participation of multiple stakeholders to produce complementary sets of strategies, activities, and interventions, including strategies ...