Healthism, Intersectionality, and Health Insurance: The Compounded Problems of Healthist Discrimination

Abstract

Healthism can identify situations where a person is subject to a particular form of bigotry based on their individual health status. In health insurance, some forms of healthism are unavoidable due to the very nature of health insurance structures. However, when analyzing health insurance programs, particularly those that are funded through government, it is possible to utilize a healthism framework to, first, recognize and minimize the worst effects of outright bigotry and, second, minimize and potentially ameliorate the worst effects of healthism combined with intersectionality. This Essay analyzes these issue as they relate to health insurance and Medicare.

Keywords: healthism, intersectionality, health insurance