The rate of Latino children without health insurance fell to a historic low in 2014, the first year that key parts of Obamacare took effect, but they still represent a disproportionate share of the nation’s uninsured youth, according to a new study.
About 300,000 Latino children gained insurance in 2014 from 2013, dropping the number of uninsured to 1.7 million, researchers said. Nearly half of those now insured -- more than 130,000 children -- were in California
Their uninsured rate fell to 9.7 percent, almost 2 percentage points below the year before. The rate for all U.S. children fell to 6.0 percent from 7.1 percent.
The report released Friday was co-authored by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families and the National Council of La Raza, a civil rights and advocacy group for Hispanic Americans.
One reason for the improvement, researchers said, is that the Affordable Care Act produced opportunities for Latino adults to get health coverage, such as providing premium subsidies for buying health insurance in federal and state marketplaces and expanding Medicaid programs in many states. When parents enrolled, they generally signed up their children, too.