Millennials, Latinos among groups most likely not to have health insurance

March 27-- Mar. 27--The national rate of people without health insurance saw a slight increase at the beginning of 2017, inching up from 10.9 percent to 11.3 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll. Still, far more people are covered by health insurance now than in 2013 before government-sponsored health insurance exchanges opened and other parts of the Affordable Care Act were implemented.

The uninsured rate dropped by 6.2 percentage points between 2013 and 2016, and some states like Kentucky and California have seen their rates plummet by more than 10 points.

Yet, as state leaders tout these improvements, certain demographics still suffer from lack of health insurance with rates far above the national average. Among the groups less likely to have medical insurance than their counterparts are males, millennials and those who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, white Hispanic or Latino.

When looking at race and ethnicity, the differences in insurance rates are especially stark, with some groups three times as likely as whites to be without coverage. Twenty-seven percent of both white Hispanics or Latinos, and American Indians or Alaska Natives between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2015, U.S. Census data reveals. Comparatively, only 9 percent of whites weren't covered by insurance, whether through Medicaid, exchange plans or employer-sponsored insurance.

Part of American Indians' and Alaska Natives' lack of insurance can be explained by their high rates of poverty, along with chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service, which provides medical services to both groups.

Similarly, Latinos and white Hispanics are much more likely than non-Hispanic and non-Latino whites to hold a low income, blue-collar job that doesn't provide health insurance. This is significant given that the vast majority of Americans under 65 are covered through their employer, according to Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

At 4 percent, the difference in uninsured rates between men and women is much smaller than it is for race. Men are less likely than women to have health insurance, partly because "particularly during their childbearing years, women tend to seek out and use more health care services than men," Corlette tells U.S. News. And, under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies can no longer charge higher premiums for women.

Young and invincible

Another factor, though, is that there is probably some truth to the stereotype of the "young, invincible 25-year-old guy," who is less likely to be aware of health risks than young women, she adds.

Millennial men were most likely to be uninsured out of all gender and age combinations, with a rate of 19 percent.

But regardless of gender, age is a strong predictor as to whether or not someone has health insurance. Though uninsured rates for millenials are improving, they are less likely to be covered than Americans of other ages -- 16 percent of 18-34-year-olds were uninsured in 2015, compared to 11 percent of 35-64-year-olds, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Americans between the ages of 35 and 64 are are more likely to sign up for health insurance because they are "more likely to have things happen to them health wise, but they are also probably more aware of health risks and may have a greater income to be able to sign up," Corlette says.

Maggie Buchanan, southern director for Young Invincibles, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that encourages young people to represent their generation on national issues, argues otherwise.

Young adults without health insurance are aware of its importance, but often are not educated on how to attain it, she says.

"Unfortunately we know that uninsurance is something that is intergenerational," Buchanan adds. "They've watched their family and friends suffer from not being able to get care, and they know very much the importance of insurance. They've seen the damaging effects it can have, but they don't know that there is cost assistance out there."

Besides a lack of education, many millennials aren't insured because of "the economic context of when (they) came of age," according to Buchanan.

They were hit harder than other age brackets by the recession and faced unemployment, low-paying jobs and jobs that didn't provide health insurance. She also points to the fact that young people tend to move around often and work different jobs, many of them hourly.

In the South, where many states haven't expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, uninsured rates are higher than the rest of the nation, especially for young people.

About 16 percent of the Southeast and 21 percent of the Southwest were uninsured in 2015, and that spiked even higher for Americans ages 18-34.

Millennials aren't receiving the information they need to obtain health insurance in some southern states, which Buchanan says have a "hostile environment" toward the Affordable Care Act.

"There's resistance from states that didn't want to set up a marketplace to get the word out about these new enrollment opportunities. So as opposed to collaboration with the state, what you're really getting is a lot of enrollers working on their own," Buchanan says.

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Twitter: @dennisseid

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