Despite efforts, Latino enrollment in Obamacare lags

Daniel Palacios, 17, and his aunt, Lusmila Morales, 53, wait for enrollment assistance at Legal Services of Northern Virginia. Morales wants coverage so she can get a physical.

"I didn't understand about the deductibles and how to choose a plan," said Norma Santaolalla, 46, who cleans houses for a living and whose husband is a handyman. "It's difficult. It's the first time we've done that. That's why we came here to ask them to help us."

"Here" was the Arlington Mill Community Center where help was available on a recent Saturday as part of a national effort to boost Obamacare enrollment, especially among Latinos.

Latinos represent about a third of the nation's uninsured and for a number of reasons, signing them up has been harder.

As of Jan. 16, just 10% of those who had signed up for plans in the 37 states served by healthcare.gov are Latino up slightly from 7% during the first few months of last year's enrollment, despite concerted efforts to reach them, according to government data.

Experts caution that those numbers are reported by applicants and there's no requirement that anyone signing up for coverage state their race or ethnicity. Nonetheless, government and pro-Obamacare groups have stepped up their efforts through media campaigns and emphasized the kind of in-person assistance the Santaolallas and many other Latinos seem to prefer.

Related: Obamacare penalty payers ask, 'Where's my refund?'

Nearly a third of the ACA's media budget this year is focused on Hispanic media, tripling the 10% spent on reaching Latinos last year, according to Health Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

Providing in-person assistance, however, takes time. A session can easily run 90 minutes to two hours, and several meetings are often needed to explain how insurance works and what the options are. Even though applicants may qualify for tax credits, many will still have to pay a monthly premium. And people who have gone without insurance for years might not feel the need to buy it.

Still, since October 2013, 2.6 million Latinos ages 18 to 64 gained insurance through the health law, according to federal officials. As of last June, the share of Latinos without health insurance dropped from 36% to 23%, with the highest gains in states that adopted Medicaid expansion, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis. That's important to the success of the overall health reform, because uninsured Latinos tend to be young and healthy. They are likely to use fewer medical services and will help offset the cost of sicker people in the insurance "risk pool."

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Despite efforts, Latino enrollment in Obamacare lags