Hispanics in Massachusetts are much more likely to have insurance coverage and a primary care doctor than they were before the state's health insurance overhaul five years ago, but a report set to be released today found that those who speak little or no English lag far behind, with one-third uninsured. The researchers concluded that English-speaking Hispanics were almost as likely to be insured as non-Hispanic whites, after adjusting the data for differences in factors such as age and income. But the coverage rate for those who primarily speak Spanish was about 11 percentage points lower. The study results were based on a 2009 national health survey that included more than 10,000 Massachusetts adults ages 18-64. The study was led by the JSI Research and Training Institute, a nonprofit public health consulting firm in Boston.
