daup h i n cm s .org WHITE COATS FOR Features BLACK LIVES VACCINATIONS The requirement for immunizations to attend public schools has lessened the burden of preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough. There is distrust in many communities regarding safety. The anti-vaxxers have been stridently against required vaccinations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finding gaps in herd immunity as evidenced by recent measles outbreaks around Disneyland and the New York orthodox Jewish community. MEDICAL CARE AND INSURANCE Medical care in many Black communities is delayed or not easily accessible as the type of insurance often determines the practitioner. If prescribed medications are not substantively covered by insurance, the medication may go unfilled or rationed by the patient. When I as a board certified 22 Summer 2020 Central PA Medicine WHAT DO YOU FEEL? ANGER? DISGUST? WHITE PRIVILEGE SUCKS IF YOU ARE NOT WHITE. internist and board certified obstetrician and gynecologist was asked many years ago to speak to a Medicare RUC (RVS Update Committee) for anesthesia because anesthesiologists were not sustainable in practice if Medicare was more than 30% of their patients, it was quickly decided the committee needed to increase the payments. The government funded programs have been guilty of overpromising, underfunding, and shifting the blame to the patient and/or medical practitioner. Medical practices cannot sustain themselves if there is consistent and systemic underpayment for care provided. Drug costs are part of the problem for all people, but the generally less well-paid nonWhite often does not have the insurance or financial means to purchase life enhancing medication. The asthma drug is only one example. Imagine if you needed medicationhttp://www.dauphincms.org