November 14, 2014
By Troy Wilde,
SALT LAKE CITY – The state has made some progress, but more than one in five Hispanic children in Utah still does not have health insurance, according to a new report.
The study, released jointly by the National Council of La Raza and the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, showed that 22 percent – or 34,000 – Hispanic children are uninsured statewide, although that’s an improvement of several thousand in recent years.
Luis Garza, executive director of Communities United, said part of the challenge is that outreach to these families can be difficult.
“It is pretty challenging for communities that don’t necessarily have access to the Internet, communities that have transportation issues,” he said. “And so, I think the state of Utah can definitely do a better job in terms of tailoring this population and addressing this big issue that obviously we’re lagging way behind.”
Garza said more kids likely would be insured through the Children’s Health Insurance Program or “CHIP” and other programs if the state would do more in-person outreach. He said Medicaid expansion or Gov. Gary Herbert’s proposed Healthy Utah Plan also could help thousands more get insurance.
The report said the uninsured rate for all children in Utah also is relatively high, at about 10 percent, compared with the national rate of slightly more than 7 percent.
Report co-author Sonya Schwartz, a research fellow at the Georgetown Center, said the rate for Hispanic children may be higher in part because of parents’ fears related to immigration status. She said that shouldn’t stop them from getting their kids insured.
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