DIFFERENCES IN PRIVATE HEALTH-INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR WORKING MALE HISPANICS

In 1993, 33.8% of all nonelderly adult Hispanics living in the United States lacked health insurance coverage (either private or public), co mpared to 8.1% of the entire nonelderly population. Because Hispanics are more likely to be uninsured than any other ethnic group and becaus e they are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, th e increase in the Hispanic population is likely to increase the propor tion of the population without health insurance. Particularly striking are differences in private health insurance coverage among the three major Hispanic groups--Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Puerto Ricans. In this paper, regression-based decomposition analysis is used to explain the sources of differences in private health insurance cov erage among working males in these three groups. The results indicate that among the study population, Cuban-Americans have higher rates of private health insurance coverage than Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ri cans, and that wage rates, levels of education, age, occupation, and m arital status explain most of the difference.