Socioeconomic Stratification and Healthcare Access: Theoretical Mechanisms of Exclusion in Developed Nations

Abstract

This theoretical paper examines how socioeconomic status creates systematic barriers to healthcare access in developed nations through multiple intersecting mechanisms. Drawing upon sociological theories of stratification, cultural capital, and institutional discrimination, this analysis argues that healthcare access is fundamentally structured by three primary theoretical frameworks: economic capital barriers, cultural capital disparities, and institutional gatekeeping mechanisms. The paper synthesizes Pierre Bourdieu's theory of capital, Max Weber's concepts of social closure, and contemporary medicalization theories to demonstrate how socioeconomic stratification reproduces health inequalities even within universal healthcare systems. The theoretical framework developed here reveals that healthcare access barriers operate through direct economic constraints, differential cultural competencies in navigating medical institutions, and systematic institutional biases that favor higher socioeconomic groups. These mechanisms create a reinforcing cycle of health disadvantage that perpetuates broader patterns of social inequality. The analysis contributes to sociological understanding of how healthcare systems, despite intentions of universal access, function as sites of social reproduction and stratification maintenance.