According to the study, Latinos in the United States are less likely than Americans overall to have adequate health insurance. new research From the Commonwealth Fund, a health research nonprofit.
A study released Tuesday by the nonprofit organization found that 46% of working-age Latinos in the U.S. have year-round health insurance and are underinsured.
Research shows that an additional 21% of working-age Latinos have year-round insurance coverage but are underinsured and spend 10% of their household income in out-of-pocket costs, excluding premiums. It is said that it corresponds to more than %.
For low-income Latinos in the United States, this means out-of-pocket costs, excluding insurance premiums, amount to more than 5% of household income. The term also applies to Latinos who have year-round health insurance but have a deductible of 5 percent or more of their household income.
Additionally, 18 percent of U.S. Latinos said they had health insurance at the time of the survey, but had not had health insurance at some point in the past 12 months; answered that they did not have insurance.
The percentage of working-age Latinos who have year-round health insurance and adequate coverage is 10 percentage points lower than the country's total population.
questionnaire A Commonwealth Fund report released last month found that 56 percent of working-age adults, regardless of race or ethnicity, have year-round health insurance and are underinsured.
U.S. Latinos appear to be underinsured, although they are slightly less likely than the overall population to have health insurance, but they do They are more likely to report being uninsured.
Of the total population, 23% have health insurance all year round but are underinsured, and 12% had health insurance at the time of the survey but in the past 12 months. At some point during that time, he answered that he did not have insurance.
An additional 9% admitted not having health insurance at the time of the survey.
According to Commonwealth Fund President Joe Betancourt, this difference in health insurance coverage is partly related to industries where U.S. Latinos work overwhelmingly, such as agriculture and the hospitality industry. That's what it means.
Betancourt added that jobs in these fields typically do not offer employer-based health insurance, and most Americans receive health insurance through employer-based health insurance. Latinos are also more likely to try. gig work or work multiple jobs, both of which are not guaranteed to receive health insurance, he said.
The disparity may also be explained by the fact that Texas and Florida, two of the 10 states that have yet to expand Medicaid, have large Latino populations, Betancourt said.
The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand Medicaid coverage to include nearly all adults with household incomes 138 percent below the federal poverty level. According to KFF, this means that single people with an income of about $20,700 a year can qualify for health insurance under Medicaid.
Since 2014, states have gradually adopted new criteria for residents to qualify for Medicaid, but 10 states have yet to adopt this “expansion.”
Most states that have not yet expanded Medicaid are located in the South and are led by Republican lawmakers.
Language and cultural barriers may also play a role in why Latinos are less likely to have adequate health insurance.
“The health care system and insurance can be difficult for anyone to navigate, but I think it's even more difficult if you don't have a lot of experience with health insurance, or there are language barriers or cultural barriers,” Betancourt said. Ta.
