Obamacare and Uninsured Latino Health

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is without a doubt the most important health reform in the US in over 50 years.  The ACA requieres that most Americans obtain health insurance or face financial consequences.  This influx of new insured lives will undoubtedly affect health insurance premiums, costs and outcomes.  While there has been much discussion on the quantity of the uninsured and the legality of forcing them to insure, not as much attention has been placed on the health of the uninsured.  Latino populations in the US have historically had worst health outcomes than other groups.  This paper utilizes the Behavioral Risk Factor Suveillance System to assess the health status of the latino uninsured in the United States before the implementation of the ACA and to generate conclusions of the impact of this new insured population in health insurance markets.  Results suggest that the health status of these individuals are not much different to their insured counter parts but their preventive care is significantly worst than other insured latinos.  This paper  reinforces the importance of insuring these at risk populations for the betterment of American health.