Racial disparities remain under Obamacare
Buttons on a health care sign up table are ready to be handed out for any resident signing up for Obamacare during a 2014 event at Cuyahoga Community College's metro campus. (John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)
Ohio's rate of uninsured residents has dropped significantly under the Affordable Care Act, but the law is still not reaching many people of color, according to a new study.
The uninsured rate among blacks in Ohio is nearly 33 percent higher than it is for whites; it is nearly 57 percent higher for Hispanics than for whites, according to a study by WalletHub, a consumer information company.
The study presents a clear challenge for federal health officials as they begin the third open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
The Obama administration has repeatedly pledged to increase coverage among people of color, but the proof will be in the numbers on Jan. 31, when the open enrollment period ends for plans on the private exchange.
The WalletHub study indicated Ohio has the 13th lowest rate of uninsured residents in the nation. Nearly 444,000 people have gained coverage since the 2010 passage of the law, which allowed for the expansion of Medicaid and created subsidies to help people buy insurance on the private market.
Overall, the study found, Ohio's rate of uninsured residents has dropped to about 8.3 percent, down from 12.3 percent before the law took effect.
But the uninsured rate for blacks and Hispanics in the state is at 11.2 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. For whites, the rate is about 7.5 percent.
The study used U.S. Census data from 2010 and 2014 to track insurance coverage before and after the passage of the landmark health care law. It did not discuss reasons for the racial disparities or the extent to which those disparities have changed under Obamacare.
Part of the reason for the lack of coverage among blacks and Hispanics is higher unemployment in those groups. The black unemployment rate was about 9.5 percent at the end of June 2015, while the Hispanic rate was 6.6 percent. Unemployment among whites was about 4.6 percent.
Advocates say several other factors play into the disparity, including lack of awareness of government programs and immigration status.
Nationally, the WalletHub study noted a large gap in the uninsured rates for states that adopted Medicaid expansion and those that did not.
In states that did not expand Medicaid, generally in the South and West, the average uninsured rate was 12.7 percent. For those that did, including Ohio and most of its neighboring states, the average uninsured rate was about 9.3 percent.