Latinos Face Significant Barriers to Health Care, Report Says

By Elizabeth Levin

Feb. 28, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Spanish-speaking Latinos are the minority group most likely to lack health insurance and, even when insured, face substantial barriers gaining access to health care, a report released Thursday said.

Nearly 31% of Spanish-speaking Latinos described their health as fair or poor, more than twice the rate of whites and African Americans.

The Latino population makes up 12.5% of the U.S. population, and 32.4% of Californians, according to the 2000 census.

“Every day we are finding new and better ways to fight disease and untimely death. This is good news for America, but not for every American,” Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said at a conference sponsored by the National Hispanic Medical Assn. and the Commonwealth Fund. “In too many areas, our nation is still two nations, divided when it comes to health.”

Expanded insurance and better language services must be made available to improve health care for Latinos, said Elena Rios, president of the association, which co-sponsored the conference.

The report also determined that the quality of medical care for Spanish-speaking Latinos is compromised by communication problems. Forty-four percent of Spanish-speaking Latinos say they have a hard time understanding a doctor, yet only 49% say that they usually or always had an interpreter.

“It’s an access issue. If you build a medical practice and all the signs are in English, then there is a language barrier,” Rios said. “If you build it across town, there is a transportation issue.”

Carmona said that although the government has a responsibility to prevent and treat illness, individuals must also accept the responsibility for nutrition and fitness choices.

Latinos “are raising some overweight, out-of-shape youngsters who are headed to be dysfunctional middle-aged people,” he said. They “are a disease burden and an economic burden on our society which we cannot afford, because we cannot afford what we have now.”

Carmona said that health-care improvements should be shared by the government, the private sector, health professions, academic communities, families and individuals. He said President Bush has demonstrated his commitment to strengthening the health-care safety net by adding 1,200 health-center sites, doubling the number of people they serve. This will directly improve care for Latinos, Carmona said.

Michelle Doty, who conducted the research for the report, found that Spanish-speaking Latinos use community or public health centers more than other ethnic groups. The nation’s health centers serve patients regardless of their ability to pay; most set charges according to income.

Advocates for Latino health care support the expansion, but say that these clinics are only a partial solution.

“The problem is that community health centers are funded only to provide primary care,” said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a private, New York-based foundation that specializes in health-care issues.

“They are good just so we can get more people in the door, but they don’t reduce the need to keep pushing,” Davis said.