Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.
After nearly two years in development, the city of Philadelphia (13% Latino population) established a language access program that will make it easier for non-native speakers to utilize public information and services. The program, entitled Language Access Philly, will establish a “framework for city agencies to follow in order to comply with the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter.” “Philadelphia is one of the most diverse cities in the country,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. “As residents, workers or visitors who contribute to city life, people with limited English proficiency are entitled to fair and equal access to service. This executive order will continue to move the city in the right direction of providing meaningful services to citizens across the ...
A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that the rate of uninsured Latinos under the age of 65 decreased greatly from 2010 to 2015. Overall, numbers for Americans under the age of 65 decreased from 18% to 10%. The new report also shows that more and more Latinos now have a “usual” place to go for medical care. Latinos showed the most gain in this area climbing from 77% in 2010 to 83% as of the first half of 2015. As the cost of healthcare became more affordable, thanks to initiatives such as the Health Insurance Marketplace for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the expanded Medicaid coverage that became available in more than half of the States, fewer people overall reported having difficulties paying their medical bills. Individuals age ...
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced the city’s intention to spend nearly $30 million to increase health services to deal with the growing number of homeless students. Funding, which will come from the state, will be used toward new school-based health centers and programs inside homeless shelters that help children with literacy and attendance. Per recent reports, New York City (29% Latino population) has a rising homeless population, including more than 86,000 public school students in temporary housing. That number has risen 25% since 2010. More than 23,000 of New York City’s students live in homeless shelters. “If we can support their well being, they can feel better, attend school, focus on their school work,” said Elizabeth Rose, the head of operations ...
For many low-income Americans, the place they call home is literally a matter of life or death. A report from The New York Times found that low-income individuals in major cities, such as New York (29% Latino population) and Los Angeles (49% Latino population), and in smaller ones, such as Birmingham, Ala. (3.52% Latino population), live nearly as long as their middle-class neighbors or have seen a rising life expectancy. In parts of the country where adults with the lowest incomes, these individuals die on average as young as people in much poorer nations such as Rwanda and their life spans are getting shorter. Of the more than 13.4 million families with children living on incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, nearly 30% are Latino. A report by the National ...
Ridesharing transportation service applications (or “apps”) such as Uber and Lyft have revolutionized the way people connect and navigate the urban landscapes of the country. According to a study by the Center for American Progress, the apps have proven to be a great resource for many individuals without access to a vehicle or easy access to public transportation needed for employment, for medical care, for child care, or a multitude of any services and needs. In 2014, more than 2,100 public transit operators provided 10.5 billion unlinked trips and carried passengers more than 57 billion miles. Nationwide, 20% of the households are below the poverty line lack access to a car. Latino households without a car are as high as 25%. As a result of these findings, local leaders and ...
According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the birthrate among American teenagers has fallen to an all-time low. Once at crisis levels in the 1990s, the past decade has seen unprecedented declines and has taken place in all regions of the country and among all races, including Latinos, where numbers have been historically high. The birthrate among Latino teens has declined by nearly 50% since 2006. Theories on why this shift has occurred range from improved approaches to sex education and the proliferation of broadband Internet. Access to contraception is also seen as a key component to this new downward trend. “There has been a change in social norms that has happened in the past 20 years, and the idea of not having sex or delaying sex ...
According to new findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Latinos in the United States live at least three years longer than black and white Americans. The CDC reported that Latinos in this country live an average of at least three years longer than other racial and ethnic minorities. A Latino born in 2014 has a life expectancy of 81.8 years compared to 78.8 for whites and 75.2 for blacks. The new data reflects what is being called the “Hispanic mortality paradox,” in which Latino life expectancy has been steadily climbing since 2006 when it was 80.3 years. “On average, [Latinos] are low-income and have a poverty rate similar to blacks, making it surprising they have lower mortality and then in turn higher life expectancy than the majority ...
According to the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), Latinos have seen the biggest benefit from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as they have had the largest decrease in uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group in the country. The rate, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), fell from 41.8% to 30.5% from October 2014 to February 2016. However, more work still needs to be done as there is still a large need for Spanish-speaking doctors, dentists, and other health care professionals. “We now need to do more education and outreach,” said NHMA President Elena Rios to the group’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. last week. “We need to be able to identify and encourage the next generation to be of service in our Latino community.” Getting ...
According to a new report, while college enrollment numbers for Latino males continues to rise, they still lag behind female Latinos in terms of college enrollment. This disparity increases as the level of higher education increases. The report, from Excelencia in Education, found that Latino males represent half of the traditional college-aged Americans in total. Other findings from the report were that Latino male high school dropout rates have decreased significantly. In 2014, the high school dropout rate for Latino males was 12% down considerably from 26% in 2005. The graduation rates for Latino males and females have proven to be similar, with Latino males at 49% and females at 51%. Latinos are also the second largest group of college-age males overall. In 2014, Latinos ...
