The missing voice: impacts of health system change on low-income communities

Unique problems in obtaining adequate health care face poor urban communities. These include the rising number of uninsured, abuses in the managed-care system, the unwillingness of private providers to deliver health care for either Medicaid recipients or the uninsured, and an insufficient supply of primary care physicians in minority neighborhoods. If the managed-care system is to bring decent health care to poor urban communities, it must avoid the mistakes of the past. The health care system must be community based, oriented toward primary care, sufficiently funded, and universally accessible. There needs to be better coordination between medical schools and community health requirements and better support for public health facilities. Without adequate health care for the poor, urban living will eventually become more onerous for all.