The Obama administration is counting on Latinos to help make the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a success, but there may be troubles ahead: Hispanic health centers and community organizations say they don't have the funding or resources to carry out the complicated sign-up process for the 10 million Latinos who will be eligible for new public and subsidized health coverage options.
"Even with the federal grants given out, it does not nearly cover the populations we have to reach and the amount of work we have to do," said Lori Baptista, director of policy at the Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in Hayward, Calif. The center sees 14,000 patients and clients each year; 78% are Latino, and 70% do not speak English as a first language.
The ACA provides funding for "navigators" who are supposed to walk people through the enrollment process -- which is likely to be akin to filling out a tax return in terms of complexity. Language barriers will add to that complexity for many eligible people.
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http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPo...
Posted By: Jen Fad
Monday, July 22nd 2013 at 12:29PM
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