In the emergent restructuring of health care, it is imperative to examine marginalized consumers' experiences with access to care so that the process addresses not merely the issue of rising health care costs, but also begins to meet the actual health care needs of diverse communities. This report of a feminist narrative study of access for low-income lesbians from several ethnic/racial groups provides critique of the US health care system from the standpoint of consumers and offers a transformative vision of what a just, effective, and compassionate system might encompass. By generating compelling evidence about the access afforded in current models of health care delivery, this study serves as an example of the significance of its methodological innovations, sampling from the margins, and narrative design.

© 1993 Aspen Publishers, Inc.