Hispanics More Concerned Than Whites About Loss Of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, Survey Finds

February 22, 2008 – 8:54 pm | posted in Health Insurance

Hispanics are more concerned than whites about the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Dallas Morning News reports.

For the survey, research company Yankelovich interviewed 3,157 U.S. residents last February, and the Economic Policy Institute analyzed the results. The survey found that 25% of Hispanics had concerns about the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, compared with 13% of whites. In addition, 26% of Hispanics said that they decided not to visit a physician at least one time because of cost concerns, compared with 17% of whites, and 25% of Hispanics said that they had used funds from their savings to cover medical expenses, compared with 17% of whites, according to the survey.

Jaime Martinez, health policy director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said that many small businesses have begun to shift more responsibility for the cost of health insurance to employees, a trend that has placed many low-income Hispanics “further into the hole.” Elise Gould, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute who wrote a report on the survey, said that, as more employees lose health insurance, overall health care costs will increase. “They’re less likely to have a doctor, and they’ll go to the emergency room,” which will “drive up (overall health care) costs,” she said (Roberson, Dallas Morning News, 2/21).

The EPI analysis is available online.

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