WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Hispanic communities have been left behind by the current healthcare system, asserts a new report.
The report was put together by 18 of the "greatest minds in healthcare," the chairman of The Latin Coalition, Roberto de Posada, boasted at a news conference Thursday. It offers "commonsense solutions" and stresses that Hispanic healthcare is an American problem as well as a Latino one.
"Many of the current Latino health programs are outdated and have not evolved with the new realities and technologies in health care, and with the modern-day needs and concerns of the growing Latino communities. There is plenty of money being spent, just not in the right places," the group said in a statement.
The report stresses that despite 80 percent of American Latinos being employed, they are three times less likely to have medical insurance than the average American.
They are also six times more likely to have tuberculosis, seven times more likely to have HIV and twice as likely to have diabetes.
The key solution, according to this report, is education or "health literacy."
One innovative idea: centers to create multimedia strategies to promote health literacy among Hispanic communities. Strategies might include Spanish-language media broadcasts and Web-based entertainment.
"Too often people with the greatest health burdens have limited access to health information," asserts the report. It is "misinformation that is really killing people," said Manuel Banite, a member of The Latin Coalition.
Other initiatives include attempts to encourage more Latinos to enter the medical profession. Currently they comprise 15 percent of the population but only 3 percent of the medical community. De Posada seemed genuinely passionate when he said, "In order to have a voice, you have to have a seat at the table."
The task force is desperate to point out that healthcare is not simply a Latino problem, but an American problem. According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are 37.4 million Latinos in America, which represents nearly 15 percent the population, and by 2040 this will increase to 87.5 million Latinos, which will represent 22.3 of the population.
For this reason it is in the economic, as well as moral, interest of Americans to address the failure in the healthcare system for Hispanic communities.
No new original material was researched during the yearlong process of creating this 63 page report. This raises the question of why The Latino Healthcare Taskforce thinks its report will actually make a difference.
Members of the task force responded that their report was a "strategic action plan" that was "specific" in its solutions, as opposed to other reports on this issue that were inclined to simply list problems.
Most Latinos work in the services industry and small companies, which tend not to offer medical insurance. The report encourages the government to give tax breaks to small businesses that provide health insurance for their workers.
The Latino Coalition showed no sign of stopping until their issue is properly addressed. "The Latino Task Force will not die with the publication of this report," de Posada emphasized. "We are going to hold people accountable. The time to analyze is over -- we need action."
