Latino children twice as likely to be uninsured: analysis

The number of Latino children without health insurance is twice as high as non-Latino children, according to an analysis from Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families.

The uninsured rate for Latino children reached 9.3 percent in 2019, compared to 4.4 percent of non-Latino youth the same year, according to the analysis dated June 8.

The uninsured rate increased by 1.6 percent between 2016 and 2019 among Latino children, compared to the 0.7 percent increase for non-Latino youth.

As of 2019, there were 1.83 million uninsured Latino children in the country, a 354,400-person increase over the the same figure in 2016. 

Uninsured rates for Latino children were 2.5 times higher in states that did not implement Medicaid expansion by 2019 compared to states that implemented Medicaid expansion. Still, the uninsured rate for non-Latino children in these states with expanded Medicaid was 1.5 times higher.

The authors of the study noted that the number of Latino children without health insurance likely worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Latino adults participate in the workforce at higher rates than national average, but are less likely to have jobs with employer-sponsored health insurance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says Latino populations are 1.9 times more likely to contract COVID-19, 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalized for the virus and 2.3 times more likely to die from the disease. 

According to Axios, over a third of minors who have died of COVID-19 were Hispanic or Latino.