Lack of access to health care an ongoing problem for Latinos

In keeping with national trends, many Latinos and other minorities living in Minnesota don’t have adequate access to health care, which some medical professionals and others say is the result of language barriers, poverty and anti-immigration sentiment, among other issues. But officials and community activists are working to fix that disparity.

For example, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minneapolis, led a discussion on the challenges facing Latinos at the locally hosted Hispanic Community Health Care Forum early this month.

Ellison has advocated for federal legislation that would boost funding for community clinics that provide services to anyone. He supports extending Medicaid coverage, which counters a different legislative bill to cut it.

"All Americans need to push for all Americans to have access [to health care]," he told the Minnesota Independent over the phone. "It’s a real serious issue."

Generally speaking, Minnesotans are consistently ranked among the healthiest in the country by the standards of America’s Health Rankings. Even so, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) states in a spring 2007 report that minorities "experience poorer health and disproportionately higher rates of illness and death."

It points to a laundry list of statistics to back that up: For example, many more Latinos than whites lack health insurance. They are prone to diabetes-related deaths at earlier ages. The number of young Latina girls giving birth is well above the average among other groups (more young Latina women attempt suicide, as well), among other disparities.

Jessie Saavedra, a senior health program representative for the Health Department, told the Minnesota Independent it’s his job to spread the word about the kinds of services that are available to Latinos, particularly in the area of testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Often, when he makes calls on Latino patients, "They think I’m going to turn them in [for not being a citizen]," said Saavedra, who has conducted more than 100 AIDS/HIV tests over the last six months, all of which have turned out negative. While more Latinos are starting to get tested for STDs, "They are getting tested in the later stages of it," he said, adding that sometimes it’s too late.

Many Latinos are too scared to go to a doctor for treatment because they’re worried about being deported, Saavedra said. "That’s why he tries to let people know right away that he’s not calling to find out one’s legal status.

Unfortunately, he said, "They don’t know they have access and don’t know there are programs to help them."