abstract: 'BACKGROUND. Latinos continue to be the most uninsured racial/ethnic

  group of US children, but not enough is known about the risk factors for

  and consequences of not being insured in Latino children.

  OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors

  for and consequences of being uninsured in Latino children.

  METHODS. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of parents at urban,

  predominantly Latino community sites, including supermarkets, beauty

  salons, and laundromats. Parents were asked 76 questions on access and

  health insurance.

  RESULTS. Interviews were conducted of 1100 parents, 900 of whom were

  Latino. Uninsured Latino children were significantly more likely than

  insured Latino children to be older (mean age: 9 vs 7 years) and poor

  (89\% vs 72\%) and to have parents who are limited in English

  proficiency (86\% vs 65\%), non-US citizens (87\% vs 64\%), and both

  employed (35\% vs 27\%). Uninsured Latinos were significantly less

  likely than their insured counterparts to have a regular physician (84\%

  vs 99\%) and significantly more likely not to be brought in for needed

  medical care because of expense, lack of insurance, difficulty making

  appointments, inconvenient office hours, and cultural issues. In

  multivariable analyses, parents who are undocumented or documented

  immigrants, both parents working, the child''s age, and the \$4000 to

  \$9999 and \$15 000 to \$19 999 family income quintiles were the only

  factors that were significantly associated with a child''s being

  uninsured; neither Latino ethnicity nor any other of 6 variables were

  associated with being uninsured. Compared with insured Latino children,

  uninsured Latino children had 23 times the odds of having no regular

  physician and were significantly more likely not to be brought in for

  needed medical care because of expense, lack of health insurance,

  difficulty making appointments, and cultural barriers.

  CONCLUSIONS. After adjustment, parental noncitizenship, having 2 parents

  work, low family income, and older child age are associated with being

  an uninsured child, but Latino ethnicity is not. The higher prevalence

  of other risk factors seems to account for Latino children''s high risk

  for being uninsured. Uninsured Latino children are significantly more

  likely than insured Latino children to have no regular physician and not

  to get needed medical care because of expense, lack of health insurance,

  difficulty making appointments, and cultural barriers. These findings

  indicate specific high-risk populations that might benefit most from

  targeted Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Program outreach and

  enrollment efforts.'
affiliation: 'Flores, G (Corresponding Author), Med Coll Wisconsin, Dept Pediat, Ctr
  Adv Underserved Children, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226 USA.

  Med Coll Wisconsin, Dept Pediat, Ctr Adv Underserved Children, Milwaukee, WI 53226
  USA.

  Med Coll Wisconsin, Hlth Policy Inst, Dept Epidemiol, Milwaukee, WI 53226 USA.

  Childrens Hosp Wisconsin, Childrens Res Inst, Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA.

  Boston Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Boston, MA 02215 USA.'
author: Flores, Glenn and Abreu, Milagros and Tomany-Korman, Sandra C.
author-email: gflores@mcw.edu
author_list:
- family: Flores
  given: Glenn
- family: Abreu
  given: Milagros
- family: Tomany-Korman
  given: Sandra C.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-2599
files: []
issn: 0031-4005
journal: PEDIATRICS
keywords: 'uninsured; Hispanic Americans; children; pediatrics; health services

  research; health status; medical home'
keywords-plus: 'HEALTH-INSURANCE; UNITED-STATES; PRIMARY-CARE; ACCESS; PARENTS;

  LANGUAGE; SERVICES; BARRIERS; COVERAGE; INCOME'
language: English
month: SEP
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '30'
pages: E730-E740
papis_id: d52d8898f6bd26bd465eb574ce9d8e10
ref: Flores2006whyare
times-cited: '45'
title: Why are Latinos the most uninsured racial/ethnic group of US children? A community-based
  study of risk factors for and consequences of being an uninsured Latino child
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000240959100100
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '13'
volume: '118'
web-of-science-categories: Pediatrics
year: '2006'