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

The study examines relationships between racial identities, socioeconomic status (SES),and access to health care, investigating to what degree racial minorities and lower socioeconomicgroups 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 thehealthcare that they need (Buchmueller 2020; Cogburn 2019; Lee 2021; Phelan 2015; Weissman2018). These obstacles include greater rates of uninsurance, trouble locating doctors, andencounters with discrimination. This research used secondary data from the 2018 NationalSurvey of Health Attitudes (NSHA) conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)and Research and Development Corporation (RAND). A total of 7,187 individuals participatedin this survey. Consistent with Critical Race Theory and the Minority Stress Model, the results ofthe study indicate that those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and non-whites face greaterobstacles when it comes to healthcare access, coverage, and health status compared to whiteAmericans.