Uninsured Hispanic Women Living In Miami Dade Access to Healthcare

Uninsured Hispanic Women Living In Miami Dade Access to Healthcare

Problem Statement

Life expectancy for women has nearly doubled over the past 100 years, from 48 in 1900 to 79.5 in 2000, yet minority women continue to lag about 5 years behind white women in life expectancy. For example, in the year 2003 white women could expect to live to 80.5 years compared with 76.1 years for black women.

Minority women continue to fare worse than white women in terms of health status, rates of disability, and mortality. For some conditions, the disparities are growing, despite new technologies and other advances that have been made in recent years. For example, about one black woman in four over 55 years of age has diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes is at least two to four times as high among black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian Pacific Islander women as it is among white women.

Breast cancer mortality has been declining among U.S. women since 1990, but the decline has been much greater among white women than black women. For example, the 5-year breast cancer survival rate in 2008 was 69 percent for black women, compared with 85 percent for white women.

Although breast cancer death rates are falling, the incidence of new breast cancers continues to rise. Blacks and poor people are much more likely than whites and more affluent people to die from cancer. In addition, high blood pressure, lupus, and HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect women of color.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a patient's self-assessment of health is a reliable indicator of health and well being. When asked about their health status, minorities are more likely than whites to characterize their health status as fair. Nearly 17 percent of Hispanic women and more than 15 percent of black women say they are in fair or poor health, compared with 11 percent of white women. Compared with men, women of all races are more likely to be in fair or poor health.

Adequate access to health care services can have a significant effect on health care use and health outcomes. Lack of health insurance is a barrier to receiving services. Compared with white women, black women are twice as likely and Hispanic women are nearly three times as likely to be uninsured. Furthermore, blacks and Hispanics are much more likely than whites to lack a usual source of care and to encounter other difficulties in obtaining needed care. Traditionally, the organization of health care services has evolved independently from the medical care market. In terms of financing, two important features distinguish health from medical care. First, out of pocket health payments are comparatively higher than out of pocket medical expenses. Second, the role of the public sector, and hence the importance of the safety net available to vulnerable populations, is much smaller in the health sector. Public sources of payment for annual expenses, including Medicare, Medicaid or other public funds represent 4% of total expenditure ...