Growing Hispanic populations present health care challenges

Low rates of insurance and too few safety net facilities are two barriers to care, a new study found.

By Doug Trapp, AMNews staff. Oct. 16, 2006.

Washington -- Until about 10 years ago, Wayne Hale, MD, didn't have much contact with North Carolina's migrant laborers. They worked in rural areas and only came in for care when injured.

Since then, especially in the last five years, many more Hispanic families have moved to Greensboro, N.C., where he practices, said Dr. Hale, an associate professor of family medicine at the Moses Cone Health System Family Medicine Program.

"In fact, the predominant people we see in our clinics are Hispanic women and children," Dr. Hale said. Men are still seen more often outside office hours in the emergency department, he said.

Greensboro is not alone.

Cities, towns, and rural areas around the United States not known for Hispanic populations have seen a relative boom in the last decade, according to a recent report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

While the Hispanic population increased across the country, these "new growth communities," as the report calls them, saw sharper spikes.

About 4 million Hispanics lived in these areas in 1996. By 2003, that jumped to 7.8 million, boosting their overall share of the U.S. Hispanic population from 14% to 20% during the same years, the report said. In Greensboro, N.C., for example, about 1% of the population was Hispanic in 1996, but that rose to 4.9% by 2003.

Although Hispanics still represent only about 5% of residents in these new growth communities, the trend raises questions about what kind of access to health care they have.