Young Latinos are among largest group of uninsured
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.
“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.
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