Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine what access issues the uninsured adult may encounter when trying to acquire primary health care services in Los Angeles County. Theoretical framework. Egalitarian theory and theorists formed the foundation of this investigation. Egalitarianism suggests every individual has an equal right to the services of A society. This study used this theoretical framework to analyze data. Methodology. Secondary demographic and services satisfaction data obtained from the 1997 Los Angeles Health Survey were analyzed for existence and pervasiveness of certain issues of access that the adult population in Los Angeles might be experiencing when attempting to acquire primary health care. Independent variables were qualitative and at the nominal (categorical) level of measurement. Analysis for this study was the chi-square test of independence; which examined the relationship between gender, ethnicity, income, employment status, and geographic location and the subject's views of affordability and access. Findings. Analysis of the data suggests that there is a significant association between gender and the perceived ability to afford health care at the .01 level. Also discovered was that a person's ethnicity has a significant association with that person's perceptions of access. Both income and employment have a significant association with affordability and perceptions of access. Conclusions and recommendations. The findings suggest that health care policymakers should consider the characteristics of gender and ethnicity when planning provider services for the uninsured in a diverse metropolitan area. Further study is warranted to investigate why gender and ethnicity appear to be significant demographic characteristics in health care access evaluation.