Inability to pay for or access 'quality healthcare' highest among Black and Latino people, study finds
The percentage of adults who recently haven't been able to access or afford "quality healthcare" was 11%, or nearly 29 million people, according to the West Health-Gallup Healthcare Indices Study. Credit: ISTOCKPHOTO
The percentage of adults nationwide unable to afford or access "quality healthcare" has risen to the highest levels since 2021, according to a study released this week, which also cites larger increases among Black and Latino people.
And although the uninsured coverage rate on Long Island remains much lower than national levels, officials said budget negotiations in Congress that may slash Medicaid funding could be devastating, erasing coverage gains in New York.
In New York, "we've really made great strides" in increasing health insurance coverage, said Janine Logan, vice president of communications and population health for the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, which represents Long Island's nonprofit public hospitals. She cited New York's expansion of its Medicaid program, as well as its "Essential Plan."
The state's Essential Plan provides health coverage with $0 monthly premiums and no deductible for those who don't qualify for Medicaid or Child Health Plus or employer or other coverage. Income eligibility for the program can go as high as $80,375 for a family of four, according to the state's Official Health Plan Marketplace.
"All of that is now at risk because of what the federal government wants to do, as far as the budget reconciliation," Logan said. "That $880 billion they've been asked to find in cuts — it's over a 10-year period — but it's a huge number. Any kind of massive cuts like that — and Medicaid is going to get hit — kind of erodes this progress we've made here in New York," she said.
Another Island official had similar concerns.
"It could potentially be devastating," David Nemiroff, president and CEO of Harmony Healthcare Long Island, said of the potential Medicaid cuts. "It's scary. Our folks we care for are living on the fringes, and to cut services to people who are already struggling would be devastating and detrimental to our community," he said. Harmony Healthcare has centers in Elmont, Freeport, Hempstead, Oceanside, Roosevelt, Westbury and three school-based programs.
According to the West Health-Gallup Healthcare Indices Study — based on surveys of nearly 6,300 adults from Nov. 18 to Dec. 27, 2024 — the percentage of adults who recently haven't been able to access or afford "quality healthcare" was 11%, or nearly 29 million people. The study, "In U.S., Inability to Pay for Care, Medicine Hits New High," appeared on the polling organization's webpage: news.gallup.com under "Social & Policy Issues."
The study also says the "most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults," which it said rose 8 percentage points to 18% and among Black people, which rose 5 percentage points, to 14%. The study said the lowest-income households, those earning under $24,000 annually, saw their rates rise 11 percentage points to 25%. The study found there was "no meaningful change" in the rate of white adults or for middle- to high-income households.
Those lacking health insurance coverage on Long Island was far lower. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 3.9% of Nassau residents didn't have health insurance, and 4.6% in Suffolk. Black people without insurance in Nassau was 4% and in Suffolk 4.3%; for Latino people, it was 9.8% in Nassau and 11.1% in Suffolk. Whites had the lowest uninsured rate at 1.9% in Nassau and 2.4% in Suffolk. The uninsured rate among Asian people was 4.9% in Nassau and 4.6% in Suffolk.
Nemiroff said, "Access to care is one of the biggest things we do here," noting that as a federally qualified health center, "we're required to serve everybody, regardless of their ability to pay. Currently, about 18% of our patients are uninsured." Harmony Healthcare serves about 48,000 patients annually, he said. His organization would "never turn anybody away. And we never sent anybody to collections and we never plan on doing that" because of someone's inability to pay, he said.
The percentage of adults nationwide unable to afford or access "quality healthcare" has risen to the highest levels since 2021, according to a study released this week, which also cites larger increases among Black and Latino people.
And although the uninsured coverage rate on Long Island remains much lower than national levels, officials said budget negotiations in Congress that may slash Medicaid funding could be devastating, erasing coverage gains in New York.
In New York, "we've really made great strides" in increasing health insurance coverage, said Janine Logan, vice president of communications and population health for the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, which represents Long Island's nonprofit public hospitals. She cited New York's expansion of its Medicaid program, as well as its "Essential Plan."
The state's Essential Plan provides health coverage with $0 monthly premiums and no deductible for those who don't qualify for Medicaid or Child Health Plus or employer or other coverage. Income eligibility for the program can go as high as $80,375 for a family of four, according to the state's Official Health Plan Marketplace.
"All of that is now at risk because of what the federal government wants to do, as far as the budget reconciliation," Logan said. "That $880 billion they've been asked to find in cuts — it's over a 10-year period — but it's a huge number. Any kind of massive cuts like that — and Medicaid is going to get hit — kind of erodes this progress we've made here in New York," she said.
Another Island official had similar concerns.
"It could potentially be devastating," David Nemiroff, president and CEO of Harmony Healthcare Long Island, said of the potential Medicaid cuts. "It's scary. Our folks we care for are living on the fringes, and to cut services to people who are already struggling would be devastating and detrimental to our community," he said. Harmony Healthcare has centers in Elmont, Freeport, Hempstead, Oceanside, Roosevelt, Westbury and three school-based programs.
According to the West Health-Gallup Healthcare Indices Study — based on surveys of nearly 6,300 adults from Nov. 18 to Dec. 27, 2024 — the percentage of adults who recently haven't been able to access or afford "quality healthcare" was 11%, or nearly 29 million people. The study, "In U.S., Inability to Pay for Care, Medicine Hits New High," appeared on the polling organization's webpage: news.gallup.com under "Social & Policy Issues."
The study also says the "most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults," which it said rose 8 percentage points to 18% and among Black people, which rose 5 percentage points, to 14%. The study said the lowest-income households, those earning under $24,000 annually, saw their rates rise 11 percentage points to 25%. The study found there was "no meaningful change" in the rate of white adults or for middle- to high-income households.
Those lacking health insurance coverage on Long Island was far lower. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 3.9% of Nassau residents didn't have health insurance, and 4.6% in Suffolk. Black people without insurance in Nassau was 4% and in Suffolk 4.3%; for Latino people, it was 9.8% in Nassau and 11.1% in Suffolk. Whites had the lowest uninsured rate at 1.9% in Nassau and 2.4% in Suffolk. The uninsured rate among Asian people was 4.9% in Nassau and 4.6% in Suffolk.
Nemiroff said, "Access to care is one of the biggest things we do here," noting that as a federally qualified health center, "we're required to serve everybody, regardless of their ability to pay. Currently, about 18% of our patients are uninsured." Harmony Healthcare serves about 48,000 patients annually, he said. His organization would "never turn anybody away. And we never sent anybody to collections and we never plan on doing that" because of someone's inability to pay, he said.
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