Why Healthcare for Latinos Sucks

I’m not a stereotypical guy in at least one respect: When I’m sick, I go to the doctor. There’s none of this macho “I’m only coughing up blood; it will go away” kind of denial for me. I want to know what’s wrong.

This trait may be rare among males, but it’s even less common among Latinos. We know, for example, that fewer Hispanics crowd into emergency rooms than other ethnicities, despite what you may have heard about ERs going bankrupt because of undocumented Latinos overrunning them.

One reason that Hispanics are less likely to see the doctor is, of course, because we are the group most likely to be uninsured. A ridiculous 41 percent of Latinos survive without health insurance.

Even when “socialized medicine” kicks in under healthcare reform, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the small percentage of U.S. residents who won’t be covered “will still be disproportionately Latino.”

Part of the reason for this is because, despite the protestations on Congressman Joe Wilson, undocumented immigrants will still find it difficult to get insured.

But in a domino effect of bad consequences, many Latino kids won’t be enrolled in federal healthcare programs because, as Newsweek reports, “undocumented parents may be scared to enroll their children, even if those children were born in the U.S. and are citizens.”

As such, Latino kids, already less likely to be fully immunized, are more at risk to develop serious health problems in childhood. From that inauspicious start, they may grow up to become Hispanic adults who are “more likely to suffer a stroke or develop Alzheimer’s disease and face a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and hypertension than white Americans.”

Of course, we can alleviate our concern over this by saying, “Yes, it’s terrible for the undocumented, but healthcare will be fine for Hispanic citizens.”

Even if that were a morally sound judgment, however, it’s not accurate. Latino citizens tend to lag behind other groups when it comes to the quality of their care.

There are several reasons for this, such as the lack of bilingual doctors. After all, naturalized immigrants may speak English just fine, but in times of physical distress, they probably revert to their native tongues and “would rather hear the diagnosis … in Spanish.” In such cases, a misunderstanding can be disastrous.

And it’s not just a language issue. Cultural factors play a part as well. When Latinos don’t feel that a doctor understands their concerns, they may wind up going to some back alley quack from the motherland. That often turns out badly for everyone involved.

Finally, even Hispanic citizens who speak fluent English and sidestep cultural issues may still have problems. For example, Hispanics are more likely to get diabetes than white people are (and it’s not just because we like churros).

So doctors should be on the lookout for specific warning signs when dealing with Latinos. Unfortunately, this tends not to be the case.

What can be done about the poor state of Latino healthcare in America? Well, it would be nice to have more Hispanic doctors, for starters. But as many commentators have noted, the cost of medical school is daunting to a demographic that tends to be poorer than the majority culture.

As such, a quick fix, or even rapid improvement, seems unlikely.

Unfortunately, all this depressing news has brought me down. In fact, I’m feeling a bit feverish. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I better make a doctor appointment just to check it out. Wish me luck.

Photo Credit: Aidan Jones