Hispanic assimilation to American health insurance.

Abstract

Policy makers, insurance companies, physicians, healthcare administrators, and especially patients have acknowledged the need for healthcare reform. Some economists speculate high healthcare costs arise from charging paying patients enough to cover patients whom are unable to pay, the majority of those being uninsured. Hispanics maintain the highest percentage of uninsured, thirty percent; therefore are the main focus of this study. I hypothesize that assimilation and race, compared to many common factors play a significant role in health insurance. Not only do the results show Hispanics to be significantly less likely to have health insurance than blacks or whites, but immigrants are less likely to be insured than the first generation resident or subsequent generations. Specifically, Hispanic immigrants are less likely to be insured than white immigrants from 1980-1990. This study concludes that assimilation is a significant determinant of the percentage of the United States population that is uninsured.