Many Hispanics Shut Out of U.S. Health Care System
An estimated 25 percent of Hispanics in the United States don't have a regular health care provider to treat their medical needs.
And these people tend to be the newest documented and undocumented immigrants and those without health insurance, a new survey found.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is important because it paints a picture of health care among Hispanics in the United States, according to William Vega, a family medicine professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Hispanics make up the largest minority group in the United States, comprising 45 million people and growing, Vega noted during a teleconference Tuesday.
"The gradient of time in the country and being born in the country or outside the country has a lot to do with how people perceive and experience the health care system, and especially the deficits of that system," Vega said.
One key finding of the survey was how many Hispanics lack a "medical home" -- a regular provider to supply medical care.
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