摘要：Background and Purpose: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act resulted in establishment of Covered California (Covered CA), a marketplace providing federally subsidized health insurance in California. This study explored whether obtaining Covered CA coverage improves healthcare access and utilization among Latinos, and whether acculturation plays a role in utilization of healthcare. Methods: 270 Latino adults in San Diego community completed a self-report survey. Results: Those with Covered CA were significantly more likely to have a main provider (p<.0005), to select doctor’s office as location for services (p<.05), and significantly less likely (p<.0005) to report cost as an obstacle to care compared to uninsured participants. The more acculturated group was more likely to report receiving care at a doctor’s office (p<.05). Those who were less acculturated were more likely to report cost as an obstacle to care (p<.05). However, no significant associations were found between acculturation or insurance type and utilization of healthcare. Conclusion: Although health insurance and higher levels of acculturation do improve access, the study did not find their significant association with utilization of provider visits. Our results suggest that healthcare providers might want to consider additional factors to improve utilization of services instead of mainly emphasizing insurance.
关键词：Covered California; Affordable Care Act; Hispanics; Latino; access to care; health insurance; acculturation; utilization
