Falling Through the Cracks:
Why Hispanics find it especially difficult to access health care.

Dr. Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, “Hispanics [often] don’t enroll” in either private or public insurance, even if it is available to them. For those who have access to insurance through their employers, this may be because they still cannot afford their share of the premiums. Those eligible for public programs may not know how to enroll. They also are often afraid to participate in a government program.

May 13, 2010

Hispanic advocacy groups say health care reform law will benefit Hispanics and Hispanic-businesses. Dr. Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, called the new health care law "a phenomenal step forward for the Hispanic community" but notes that its provisions highlights the need for comprehensive immigration reform.
Read full Hispanic Business Magazine article - The Health Care Bill has Become Law: How Are You Affected?

By Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009  
Effort centers on ensuring reform doesn't shortchange immigrants
After trying to carefully balance their interests in health-care reform and immigration, the nation's Hispanic lawmakers and largest advocacy groups are scrambling to develop a strategy to counter what they see as efforts to shortchange immigrants in health bills on Capitol Hill. They had tried to keep the two issues apart, concerned, they said, that immigration would distract from health care. But other lawmakers and activists have inserted the immigration issue into the middle of the health-care debate, causing a collision between what Hispanic leaders call their two top policy priorities.

Elena Rios   President & CEO, National Hispanic Medical Association
Ms. Rios represents Hispanic physicians across the United States. She has lectured and published articles, received number awards from her peers and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• NHMA and The NY Academy of Medicine Showcased Health Care Reform for Minority Communities at Policy Briefing
• NHMA to Showcase Economic Benefits of Health Care Reform
• NHMA, Office of Minority Health Unveil Findings of Summits to Eliminate Health Disparities at Confere