Susan Baker

11/13/19

Philosophy Cover Letter: Health Care vs Minority Injustice

1. In 2010, under Obama’s presidency, the Affordable Care Act was implemented to
introduce healthcare reforms and cover Americans who couldn’t afford it (Malik). Americans
today are becoming more and more reliant on healthcare to cover our ever growing medical
needs. People of all ages, classes, ethnicities, sexualities, or groups need medical assistance.
Even the healthiest humans among us need check ups or antibiotics every now and then. The
margin of people who can afford healthcare goes hand in hand with majority groups and, oddly
enough, are the people who need it the least.
2. It's no question that minorities are more likely to experience health conditions or
illnesses than those who are in the majority group. Tello, a Muslim-American doctor, wrote in the
Harvard Health Publishing; “It is well-established that blacks and other minority groups in the
U.S. experience more illness, worse outcomes, and premature death compared with whites,”.
Tello is essentially stating that if you’re a minority, the more likely it is that you are more prone to
health issues. It’s deeper than that, though, it is a paradox situation, a vicious cycle. If you can’t
afford health care because you’re a minority, you’re prone to illness. If you’re prone to illness
constantly, the harder it will be to afford healthcare. This is systematic oppression, if people are
born with qualities that are oppressed in this way, it is in turn even harder for them to overcome
it.
3. Why are minorities already prone to these worse outcomes, though? Why is it hard for
them to afford health care? “Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have
systematically experienced greater social and/or economic obstacles to health and/or a clean
environment based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age;
mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation; geographic location;
or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion,” says the Office of
Minority Health. This is no longer a health problem, then, this is a system issue. Why have we
created a system where people at an ecological or social disadvantages, also known as
minorities, no longer have the ability to afford necessities such as health care? This isn’t the
20th century, all humans should have the right to equal treatment when it comes to
requirements such as good personal health. It should not be about class, race, status because it
is a basic human right to have access to these things.
5. John Rawls, the philosopher who proposed the “Veil of Ignorance”, argues that
arbitrary factors about individuals should play no role in their quality of life. These “arbitrary”
factors include race, sexual orientation, class, and other things that only depends on how we
were born. If we all had no idea who we were going to be born as, what race or class or
sexuality, etc we’d have then we would create a system where no one was at a major
disadvantage like the minorities of today. Everyone, regardless of these arbitrary factors, would
have an equal chance in affording healthcare.
Bibliography  
 
Frank, Richard G., et al. “Prescription Drug Prices: Why Do Some Pay More Than Others Do?”
Health Affairs​, Apr. 2001, ​https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.20.2.115
 
Malik, Adnan. “History of Healthcare Insurance in United States.” ​Healthcare™​, 9 Sept. 2019,
http://healthncare.info/history-healthcare-insurance-united-states/ 
 
Magaldi, Kristin. “The Truth About Sexual Orientation Bias In Health Care.” ​Medical Daily​, 16
July 2015,
https://www.medicaldaily.com/lgbt-discrimination-health-care-heterosexual-providers-found-hol
d-bias-sexual-343436
 
“Office of Minority Health.” ​Health Equity & Disparities - The Office of Minority Health​, 22
Feb. 2018, ​https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=1&lvlid=34
 
Tello, Monique. “Racism and Discrimination in Health Care: Providers and Patients.” ​Harvard
Health Blog​, 12 Jan. 2017,
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/racism-discrimination-health-care-providers-patients-20170
11611015
 

Part 2 Rubric: ​Philosophy Cover Letter

10 9 8 7 5 0
Complete Strong execution Meets the Approaching the Below the Standard is not
execution of the with some room to standard standard standard present in the
standard improve paper
 
Category Score/Feedback

Depth of Thinking and Argumentation (10) 8

● Student shows DEEP thinking about their philosophy
of justice
● Student defends their philosophy with sound
argumentation
 ● Students’ commentary and evaluation makes
connections between any evidence or examples or
makes connections between another text.
● Student incorporates ​at least 2 ​outside texts from
their issue research
● Each paragraph is focused around a clear idea that is
relevant to the main argument
● Argument is logical and persuasive

Applying your Knowledge (5) 8

● Student is able to meaningfully apply philosophical
concepts learned during this unit to their chosen
issue

Refinement/Beauty (5)
● Cover letter meets the minimum length requirement
● Meaning of your sentences is clear and easy to
follow
● Cover letter is carefully proofread for grammar,
spelling, and punctuation errors
● Cover letter incorporates rhetorical strategies to
maximize impact on the audience
● Cover letter has been refined for grammatical
mistakes and contains no typos
● Try to use proper in-text citation formatting! ​We’re
practicing now so we can play to perfection with the
thesis paper next semester.