Older Latinos are twice as likely to struggle with health care payments

Older Black and Latino adults are more likely than their White counterparts to report issues at the time of paying for health care, as larger shares live in lower income households, a new report by KFF shows.

About one in six Black adults aged 65 and older (16%) and one in seven Latinos (14%) reported problems paying for health care, a higher proportion than the share of older White adults (8%) who said so, according to the study. The figure for Asian adults was 11%.

"These disparities at least partially reflect income differences between these populations," the findings say.

About half of older Black (50%), Latinos (52%), and Asian adults (48%) reported having household incomes under $40,000 compared with 29% of older White adults.

In contrast, about a quarter of older Asian (25%) and White older adults (24%) report incomes of at least $90,000, about twice the share among older Black (13%) and Latino adults (12%).

The document, titled "Five Facts About Older Adults' Health Care Experiences by Race and Ethnicity," comes as projections show that people of color will comprise close to half the population of adults in this age group by 2060, KFF said.

Despite the general trend of older adults being less likely than their younger counterparts to report complications at the time of paying for health care, largely due to the widespread health insurance coverage through Medicare, researchers note that "racial and ethnic disparities in health care affordability persist."

The scope of this gap extends beyond difficulties in payment. Data based on previous studies shows that among people on Medicare, who are predominantly aged 65 and older, Black and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to report relatively poor health, higher rates of chronic conditions such as hypertension, higher rates of hospital admissions, and a greater likelihood of receiving care in the lowest-rated hospitals.

Another key finding of KFF's report shows that 50% of older Black adults, 39% older Latino adults, and 32% older Asian adults say they prepare for possible insults or feel they need to be very careful about their appearance to be treated fairly during health care visits.

Language barriers have also a significant impact on health care among older adults. According to the study, older Latino and Asian adults are less likely than older White adults to feel comfortable asking providers questions and to say their provider usually explains things well and involves them in decision-making.