Hispanics Are “Most Uninsured Ethnic Group,” Low Insurance Rates Linked to Employment, Income, Family Structure, Study Finds

Despite composing a growing portion of the U.S. population and workforce, Hispanics "lag far behind" non-Hispanics in health insurance coverage, a new study by the Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs and the Commonwealth Fund found. According to the study, titled "Running in Place: How Job Characteristics, Immigrant Status, and Family Structure Keep Hispanics Uninsured," Hispanics are at a "double disadvantage" with respect to health insurance because they are more likely than non-Hispanic counterparts to work in industries where insurance coverage is traditionally not offered and less likely to be offered insurance even when coverage is provided (Commonwealth Fund release, 6/12). For example, the AP/Arizona Republic reports that in 1999, 69% of full time Hispanic workers were offered employer-sponsored coverage, compared to about 87% of non-Hispanics. (AP/Arizona Republic, 6/13). Moreover, the study found that Hispanics, the "most uninsured ethnic group" in America, are as likely as non-Hispanics to purchase employer-sponsored insurance when it is offered to them. While lower incomes account for some of the insurance take-up disparity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic workers, Hispanic workers earning less than $15,000 annually have lower coverage rates than non-Hispanics in the same income bracket -- at that income level, 45% of Hispanics are uninsured, while 29% of non-Hispanics lack coverage (Commonwealth Fund release, 6/12). Other "key" findings include:

• Hispanics are four times as likely as non-Hispanics to be "chronically uninsured."
• Immigrant Hispanics are less likely than U.S.-born Hispanics to work at a job where health insurance is offered.
• One-third of immigrant Hispanics remain uninsured after 15 years in the United States, compared to 14% of non-Hispanic immigrants.
• Married Hispanics are younger than married non-Hispanics, more likely to have young children at home and more likely to live in a single-income family, factors that "limit the avenues through which health insurance can be obtained" ("Running in Place," May 2001).