Examining Disparities in Healthcare Access and Coverage: The Impact of Minority Status and Social Class.

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 14. Healthcare Inequality

Abstract

The study examines relationships between racial identities, socioeconomic status (SES),
and access to health care, investigating to what degree racial minorities and lower socioeconomic
groups in the U.S. encounter more healthcare barriers and experience worse health outcomes.
There is substantial evidence from previous studies that people of color, especially Blacks,
Hispanics, and Native Americans, confront disproportionate obstacles when trying to get the
healthcare that they need (Buchmueller 2020; Cogburn 2019; Lee 2021; Phelan 2015; Weissman
2018). These obstacles include greater rates of uninsurance, trouble locating doctors, and
encounters with discrimination. This research used secondary data from the 2018 National
Survey of Health Attitudes (NSHA) conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
and Research and Development Corporation (RAND). A total of 7,187 individuals participated
in this survey. Consistent with Critical Race Theory and the Minority Stress Model, the results of
the study indicate that those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and non-whites face greater
obstacles when it comes to healthcare access, coverage, and health status compared to white
Americans.

Author

• Jennifer Ofoe, University of Nebraska-Lincoln