Maness 0

11/29/2019
Final Essay
Access to technology has increased the gap

between the upper and lower social classes in healthcare.

Katelyn

SINCLAIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE

 Maness 1

Katelyn Maness

Ashley Hill-Mercer

SOC 1101

November 24th, 2019

Final Essay: Access to technology has increased the gap between the upper and lower social

classes in healthcare.

We all know that technology has increased in society, we use it to do homework, to

watch tv shows, or movies, to communicate with others, the lights in our houses, power our

kitchen appliances, like the stove and refrigerator, and many more, but one big place that uses

technology for many things is the hospitals. Hospitals use different forms of technology that

range from inputting information into our charts, sharing that information with other healthcare

facilities, diagnostic test like sifting blood, radiological technology like x-rays, MRIs, CT scans,

ultrasounds, and surgical technology, like the robot guided surgeries. With more access to

technology being used in healthcare it has increased the gap between upper and lower social

classes. We will learn why technology has increased the gap in healthcare, and the other side of

the argument.

Through my life so far, my first home has always been the hospitals. I say this because

when you are sick or have a chronic condition like rheumatoid arthritis you live in the hospital. I

have had more than 100 procedures, diagnostic tests, and 11 surgeries. The procedure I have had

the most of is joint injections. That is when a sterile needle is placed into the joint and your

doctor will try to get the most fluid out as they can and will sometimes inject the medication

corticosteroid. I have had all the diagnostic tests mentioned in the first paragraph, along with

open and robotic surgeries.

 Maness 2

Back in the 18th century the healthcare field started to blossom and has just increased as

the centuries have gone by. There are 3 definitions for technology in the dictionary, or online

dictionary, but we will be focusing on the definition, “the practical application of knowledge

especially in a particular area,” as stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The first

technology used was the discovery of anesthetics, especially the form of laughing gas. Following

this was the stethoscope, a piece of equipment used to listen to your chest, the first blood

transfusion, and many more, as told in the article “What is modern medicine” by Daniel Murrell,

M.D. During this time healthcare employees would have to write down people’s information,

and health records. However, the actual first technology invented was the x-ray machine and the

latest technology involves a machine that will cut out bad parts in the DNA and these

technologies are not cheap.

We all know that there are three main social classes, the upper, middle, lower, and

depending on which class you’re in depends on what can of healthcare you will receive. If you

are a part of the upper class that means you are the highest social class, making more than, or

equal to $187,872, middle is around $78,442, and lower was around $25,642, as stated in the

article “Which Income Class Are You?” (Jake Frankenfield. 2019). Due to how much a person

makes depends on what kind of healthcare they receive.

The upper class receives the most healthcare, because you pay for the plan you want.

This means you can select the plan that works best for you. The plan most people gravitate

towards is a gold plan. A gold plan will pay on some of your health-related bills, dental care, and

eye care. The next best plan is the silver plan. The silver plan covers a little bit less than the gold

but covers more than the bronze plan. People who are in middle class receive 10% less coverage

than upper class citizens. The bronze plan covers less than the silver, but still provides health
 Maness 3

coverage. Any form of health coverage is better than having no coverage at all. The choice of

plans is mainly due to lack of funds to pay for insurance. Because of this people who still do not

make enough money to pay for even a bronze plan, goes without any health coverage. This was

the start of inequality in healthcare between upper and lower class, and technology has just made

it worst.

Back to the 18th century, people were still divided into social classes, the upper class had

the first access to the new techniques and technology. Following the upper class was middle, and

then lower class like they were dominos. First class got the chance to be vaccinated (shots), to

have x-rays done, top doctors and even surgeons. Then flash forwards to today, upper class has

more access to the same things as in the 18th century, but the technology has increased. Now they

are able to have MRIs, CT scans, and more that will diagnose what is going on with them right

there and then. Whereas middle class must wait at these 14 days, lower class has to wait a little

bit longer than the 14 days, and people that cannot afford the healthcare have to go without.

In all the sources I have gathered about technology, healthcare coverage plans, social

classes and how they intertwine with each other they had one thing in common. People from

upper class have more benefits than people from lower class. People from lower class usually

work at locations that do not offer insurance. They are also known to be obesity, do

drugs/smoke, high levels of stress that cause several health problems, and more, as stated in the

article “Health, Income, & Poverty: Where We Are & What Could Help” wrote by Dhruv

Khullar, and Dave A. Chokshi for Health Affairs. Along with this the environments lower class

citizens live in are just as bad. There is violence, families having to live with each other in small

houses, and sometimes no access to education. Due to families living on top of each other

illnesses spread faster, and little to no education causes the cycle to continue throughout the
 Maness 4

generations. Another thing they had in common is white people make up most of the upper and

middle class, whereas African Americans make up a small portion of the upper, and middle

class, but make up most of the lower class. This shows that African Americans are still facing

inequality and discrimination. Throughout my research I discovered that many of the topics we

covered so far this semester have played a role. These lessons are culture, social theories, social

structure, stratification, gender, technology, education, and health.

The social theories, or sociological perspective we will be talking about are structural-

functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interaction. As stated in our online notes for Sociology 1101

functionalism looks at society through a macro-level perspective, focuses on the social structures

that shape society. This means that things happen in order for society to function as a whole. We

need social classes to separate people into based on their income. Then once they are in their

groups then they can get a healthcare plan that works. Conflict theory is the competition and

distribution of resources, power, and inequality. This is shown in the social classes separating

people into groups based on how much they make. If they are apart of the upper class then they

have the power, more resources, like better healthcare, and are made up of mostly white people.

If they are apart of the lower class then they have no power, little to no resources, like healthcare,

and are made up of mostly African-Americans. Symbolic interaction perspective views society

as everyday interactions with your surroundings. This is shown because people interact with

people they are surrounded by. We can see this especially in the lower class because people are

sometimes living with multiple people, surrounded by drugs, smoking, violence, and have little

to no education. Since this is a common situation among lower class individuals the cycle keeps

going throughout the generations. When I say this, I mean the people and families that make up

the lower class are showing their kids these interactions every day causing the child to learn that
 Maness 5

what is going on around them is normal and they should do it too to fit in to their surroundings.

Healthcare has changed the way it works, with the big change being in technology. Along

with the new technologies there is also healthcare plans ranging from the gold, silver, bronze and

no plan. To determine what plan a person will have is their social class whether it be upper,

middle, or lower class, which is determined by their income. With the increase of technology in

healthcare it has also increased the gap between upper and lower class, due to the rise in price of

medical treatment.
 Maness 6

References

Ellis, Monique. “Top 10 new medical technologies of 2019” Feb. 2019.

https://www.proclinical.com/blogs/2019-2/top-10-new-medical-technologies-of-2019

Frankenfield, Jake. “Which Income Class Are You” Nov. 2019.

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/which-income-class-are-you.aspx

Khullar, Dhruv, and David A. Chokshi “Health, Income, & Poverty: Where We Are & What

Could Help. Oct. 2018.

https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20180817.901935/full/

Merriam-Webster “technology.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technology

MNT editorial team. “What is modern medicine? Oct. 2018. Medically reviewed by Daniel

Murrell, M.D. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323538.php