title: Young adults seeking medical care: do race and ethnicity matter?
abstract: Data from the National Health Interview Survey: 2008-2009. More than one-half of Hispanic young adults aged 20-29 years were uninsured in 2008-2009 compared with one-third of non-Hispanic black young adults and almost one-quarter of non-Hispanic white young adults. Among young adults aged 20-29 years, non-Hispanic white (66%) young adults were twice as likely as Hispanic (33%) young adults to have private health insurance coverage. Approximately equal percentages of Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black young adults with private health insurance or Medicaid had a usual source of medical care. Uninsured non-Hispanic white (37%) and non-Hispanic black (33%) young adults were more likely to have unmet medical need than uninsured Hispanic (21%) young adults. Health care disparities among different racial and ethnic subgroups in the United States are of national concern. Health insurance is a key factor in the access to medical care services, and young adults in the United States aged 20-29 years are more likely than adults aged 30 years and over to lack health insurance coverage (1-4). A previous report has examined the differences in health insurance and access to health care by gender among young adults aged 20-29 years (5). This report focuses on the differences in health insurance and access to health care among Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black young adults aged 20-29 years.
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Bloom
authors: Robin A
authors: RA
authors: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult; D001741:Black or African American