In the first three months of 2015, 28.3 percent of hispanics lacked health insurance, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. That means Hispanic adults had the greatest percentage point decrease in the uninsured rate between 2013 and the beginning of this year.
Compared to other demographics, 15.6 percent of non-Hispanic black adults, 8.7 percent of non-Hispanic white adults and 7.2 percent of non-Hispanic Asian adults lacked health insurance during the first three months of 2015. The uninsured rate for Hispanic adults was 40.6 percent in 2013.
The percentage of Hispanics covered through the public option, such as Medicaid, increased from 33.4 percent to 35.2 percent, while those with private coverage rose from 37 percent to 44.3 percent.
Despite the gains in reducing the rate of the uninsured, Latinos still face challenges when it comes to accessing care. For instance, the Affordable Care Act does not allow the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. to participate in either the state exchanges or state's Medicaid programs.
And because Latinos are one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the country, their participating in Medicaid expansion is critical for national efforts to cover millions of uninsured Americans.
The information for this demographic is part of the overall government report that finds the number of Americans without coverage dropped by nearly 16 million since 2013. Further, a recent Gallup poll shows the uninsured rate fell from 17.3 percent in 2013 to 11.7 percent in 2015.
For more:
- here's the data (.pdf)