In Brief: Covered California Sees Big Enrollment Surge; State\'s Latinas Struggle To Find Care

Covered California Sees Big Enrollment Surge

The Covered California health insurance excchange has reported a surge in coverage sign-ups in the waning days of this year’s open enrollent period. That has prompted the exchange to extend the enrollment deadline by two days for coverage that will begin on Jan. 1.

A total of 54,000 people obtained coverage on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 alone, including 32,000 on the latter day. That surpassed the enrollment totals reported for the same period last year, according to officials.

“The interest we have seen over the last two days is further proof of the continued demand that Californians have for quality, affordable health care coverage,” said Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee. “We want to make sure that everyone who is working to get in the door has the time they need to get the coverage they deserve.”

Altogether, 197,000 Californians have signed up for coverage during the current enrollment period. It ends on Jan. 31 for coverage that begins in February or March.

State’s Latinas Struggle To Obtain Care

A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that a significant percentage of California’s Latinas have had issues  obtaining care, while African-American women are far likely to be diagnosed with the HIV virus and live with it for the long-term.

According to the data, 35% of Latinas said they did not have a personal physician or other healthcare provider between 2012 and last year. That compares to 13% of white women and 15% of African-American women.

And Latinas also have a higher rate of not accessing care on a regular basis. According to the survey, 26% of Latinas did not see a doctor within the prior 12 months, compared to 16% of white women and 17% of African-American women.

The data show that Latinas are more likely to contract cervical cancer than other ethnic groups. However, rates of HIV virus diagnosis among African-American women are far higher than the statewide average -- 19.9 per 100,000 residents. That compares to the statewide rate of 3.7 per 100,000 for all women in California. And African-American women are also far more likely to live with the virus on a long-term basis, with 493.7 per 100,000 living with HIV, versus the statewide average of 87.7 per 100,000.

Overall, 23% of Latinas and 31% of African-American women say they are in poor or fair health, compared to 13% of white women in California.

Not Enough Minorities Included In Research

New data from UC San Francisco has concluded that  less than 2% percent of the 10,000-plus cancer studies have included enough minorities to be relevant, and less than 5% of respiratory studies have relevant participation from ethnic minorities.

“This country is plagued by racial and ethnic disparities in some of the deadliest and most debilitating diseases,” said study co-author Esteban Gonzalez Burchard, M.D., a UCSF pulmonologist.