The Affordable Care Act has made significant gains in reducing the number of uninsured Hispanic children, according to a new study from Georgetown University Health Policy Institute's Center for Children and Families and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
The study found that the number of uninsured Hispanic children dropped by about 300,000, from about 2 million in 2013 to 1.7 million in 2014. Yet these children are still more likely to be uninsured than their peers, as an estimated 9.7 percent of Hispanic children were uninsured in 2014 compared to 6 percent of all children.
"We are pleased to see that the gap in health coverage between Hispanic children and all children is closing but there are still inequities to address," Steven T. Lopez, manager of the NCLR Health Policy Project, said in a statement. "Policymakers must act to ensure that every child, no matter who they are, where they live or how much their family earns, can get quality, affordable health coverage and care." Study (.pdf)