Profiles of Latino Health, Question 4: Where in the country are Latinos most likely to lack health

2009

Profiles of Latino Health:

The Top Twelve Questions About Latinos and Health Care

Answers to the research questions that people are asking about Latinos’ health and interactions with the health care system

Question 4: Where in the country are Latinos most likely

to lack health coverage?

ANSWER:

Hispanic1 uninsurance rates tend to be disproportionately high throughout the nation, but Hispanics living in the Southeast region of the United States are most likely to be uninsured.

• States with the highest rates of Latino uninsurance are generally concentrated in the

Southeast—areas that are experiencing rapid growth of a relatively new Latino population (see Figure 1).2 • In 33 states, the percentage of Latinos who compose the state’s uninsured population is two or more times greater than the percentage of Latinos in the state’s overall population.3 • Many of the states where Latinos are most likely to be uninsured have relatively low employersponsored insurance (ESI) rates among their Latino populations (see Table 1). Generally, the states with the lowest ESI rates are located in the southern and eastern parts of the U.S.4 • Similarly, states that have the highest levels of Hispanic uninsurance tend to have the lowest rates of safety-net coverage among Latinos (see Table 1). With the exception of Oregon, the states with the highest uninsurance rates ranked in the bottom third for rates of Medicaid and CHIP coverage.5

Figure 1: U.S. Hispanic Uninsurance Rate by State, 2007 Under 10%

10–19.9%

20–29.9%

30–39.9%

40–49.9%

50% and over

NH ME VT

WA ND

MT

MN

OR ID WY NV CA

UT

CO

IL MO

KS OK

NM

MI

IA

NE

AZ

PA OH

IN

WV KY

AR AL

VA

NJ DE MD DC

RI CT

NC

TN MS

TX

AK

WI

SD

MA

NY

SC GA

LA FL

HI

Source: NCLR calculation using data from U.S. Bureau of the Census, “2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement,” Current Population Survey.

Conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC, 2008, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstc/cps_ table_creator.html (accessed February 2009). The Current Population Survey does not include data for the U.S. territories.

Question 4: Where in the country are Latinos most likely to lack health coverage?

2009

Profiles of Latino Health:

The Top Twelve Questions About Latinos and Health Care

Answers to the research questions that people are asking about Latinos’ health and interactions with the health care system

Table 1: Insurance Coverage of U.S. Hispanics by State, 2007 State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming United States

Percentage of Population Hispanic

Percentage of Hispanics with EmployerSponsored Insurance

Percentage of Hispanics with Medicaid/CHIP

Percentage of Hispanics Uninsured

2.9 4.5 30.4 4.8 37.0 19.5 12.0 7.2 8.8 21.2 7.4 6.3 9.8 13.8 4.5 5.6 8.2 2.2 2.5 1.0 7.4 6.8 3.7 4.4 2.7 3.3 2.3 7.1 24.1 2.1 16.9 41.3 16.8 6.2 1.8 2.8 6.6 10.5 4.3 10.7 3.5 2.5 3.6 38.7 11.9 1.3 6.8 8.8 0.4 6.2 7.7 15.4

51.1 50.0 39.2 43.0 41.8 43.1 35.1 35.5 41.2 42.6 31.1 69.6 44.2 52.2 50.9 51.2 42.7 28.7 20.2 58.3 37.6 36.6 42.0 52.0 38.5 52.6 33.3 37.1 53.6 40.7 41.1 44.4 37.2 25.4 45.5 40.4 33.2 28.5 45.6 41.1 30.1 47.4 32.1 35.5 50.5 62.5 37.4 40.6 57.1 48.1 57.5 40.3

18.3 20.0 25.9 23.0 24.8 17.5 37.7 24.2 25.5 11.9 16.8 11.4 22.4 19.9 27.2 22.9 25.8 29.8 10.6 33.3 7.3 55.1 24.4 18.9 15.4 24.5 33.3 23.4 10.4 11.1 16.9 21.3 37.3 16.4 27.3 21.5 20.0 25.8 34.9 37.5 17.0 15.8 14.9 19.6 13.2 12.5 11.5 24.0

26.7 16.7 30.7 33.3 28.4 35.1 22.8 37.1 29.4 34.9 50.1 12.7 32.7 26.0 25.1 25.9 28.4 33.0 59.6 8.3 50.0 7.2 22.5 29.5 55.1 22.9 28.6 35.5 34.5 48.1 37.3 25.9 22.0 52.6 36.4 35.3 36.6 44.2 17.1 21.4 50.3 36.8 44.8 39.0 31.9 12.5 43.5 30.1 42.9 23.3 20.0 32.1

Insufficient Data

31.3 17.5 22.5

Source: NCLR calculation using data from U.S. Bureau of the Census, “2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement,” Current Population Survey. Conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC, 2008, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstc/cps_table_creator.html (accessed February 2009).

Endnotes ¹ The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably by the U.S. Census Bureau and throughout this document to refer to persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American, Dominican, Spanish, and other Hispanic descent; they may be of any race. Furthermore, unless otherwise noted, estimates in this document do not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico. ² NCLR calculation using data from U.S. Bureau of the Census, “2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement,” Current Population Survey. Conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington, DC, 2008, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstc/cps_table_creator.html (accessed February 2009). ³ Ibid. ⁴ Ibid. ⁵ Ibid.

Question 4: Where in the country are Latinos most likely to lack health coverage?