Young Latinos are among largest group of uninsured

Andy Uhler Aug 18, 2016
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Maria Elena Santa Coloma (R), an insurance adviser with UniVista Insurance company, helps Shessy Gonzalez sign up for a health plan under the Affordable Care Act. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Young Latinos are among largest group of uninsured

Andy Uhler Aug 18, 2016
Maria Elena Santa Coloma (R), an insurance adviser with UniVista Insurance company, helps Shessy Gonzalez sign up for a health plan under the Affordable Care Act. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

A report out Thursday from the Commonwealth Fund says that young Latinos are among the most likely to remain uninsured despite the Affordable Care Act. 

Sara Collins, vice president of health care coverage at the Commonwealth Fund and lead author of the new report, found that people with low incomes and minorities like African-Americans and Latinos made significant gains in coverage.

“The pie of uninsured people has shrunk,” she said. But, she continued, “there have been some notable shifts in the composition of the group of uninsured in the United States.”

Latinos grew to 40 percent of all uninsured Americans, up 11 percent from three years ago.

Latinos grew to 40 percent of all uninsured Americans, up 11 percent from three years ago.

“One of the biggest reasons, among Latinos at least, is that the Affordable Care Act excludes people who are undocumented from enrolling both through Medicaid and through the marketplaces,” she said.

A different report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, also released Thursday, focused specifically on uninsured people in California. It found that almost three-quarters of the state’s uninsured residents now have health insurance coverage, but cost and immigration status are still important obstacles. 

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the name of the foundation Sara Collins works for. The text has been corrected. 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.