The Enterprise of Health: An Evaluation of the Accessibility of Durable Medical Equipment in Low-Income Households

People with disabilities constitute a marginalized group in the United States and their experiences within the health care system are often unaccounted for in policy recommendations and reforms. This research aimed to provide general insights on the barriers that prevent access to durable medical equipment (DME) for people with disabilities. I developed a qualitative ethnographic study to capture how people with disabilities experience these barriers first-hand. I collected five in-depth semi-structured interviews with people with disabilities in need of DME. The findings are grouped into two large themes, the economic and the social. The goal of the research is to help tailor efforts in eradicating access disparities to quality health care services for individuals with disabilities in the current American health care environment.