Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15th to October 15th, is a time of national celebration and acknowledgement of the many Hispanic American contributions to the United States’ cultural, technological, artistic and political spheres. During this time, it is also important to remember how we as a country have fallen short of making basic needs, like healthcare, accessible to our people of Hispanic heritage.
the Health insurance disparity
Access to health insurance is one of the biggest barriers to Hispanic Americans seeking healthcare in the United States. With health insurance being the single-most important driver of healthcare use, it is concerning that Hispanic Americans are over three times more likely than Non-Hispanic White (NHW) Americans to be uninsured (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
underrepresentation in research
One of medicine’s greatest historical shortcomings has been underrepresentation of minorities in research. To this day, Hispanic Americans are incredibly underrepresented as participants of medical studies. According to the American Heart Association, Hispanic people comprised only 1% of study participants in 2015. This is an underrepresentation of nearly 20 fold, as Hispanic Americans make up approximately 19.5% of the United States population. The marginalization of Hispanic people as research participants may mean that medicine in America is skewed against effective treatment for this entire ethnic group.
the Latino/a/e physician shortage
The vicious cycle of alienating Hispanic Americans from medicine has led to an increasingly drastic Latinx physician shortage. Today, only 6% of physicians in the United States identify as Hispanic Americans – a proportion which dropped steadily from 1980-2010 and continues to follow this trend (AAMC). Unsurprisingly then, Hispanic American students in the medical field often report feeling isolated and invisible in their institutions.
However, Latinx healthcare providers are an invaluable asset to increasing community comfort in seeking healthcare. Hispanic Americans are more than 11 times more likely than NHW individuals to speak at least two languages, allowing people whose first language may not be English to feel understood and speak in their language of comfort while in a medical setting.
The financial burden of disparity
The financial burden on the United States economy of underserved individuals in healthcare is calculated using the factors of untimely death, lost labor market productivity and excess medical costs. According to the NIH, this loss was estimated over $450 billion dollars in 2018. Hispanic Americans shouldered 21% of this cost. This economic burden is the culmination of all of the above factors isolating Hispanic Americans from proper access to medicine in the United States.
Ultimately, the marginalization of Hispanic Americans in the U.S. healthcare system is detrimental to the wellbeing of communities as well as the U.S. economy. Efforts like National Latino Physician Day (NLPD), which focus on outreach and resources for Hispanic Americans in medicine, can help increase Latino representation. However, further work must be done to ensure that all residents of this country feel welcomed, valued and cared for in the healthcare community.