Study outlines hurdles to health insurance for Indians

SANTA FE, N.M.

Cost, complexity and cultural barriers are among the hurdles to health insurance for American Indians.

That's according to a study done for New Mexico's Human Services Department.

The department commissioned the study to determine why Indians are disproportionately underinsured. Twenty-eight percent of Indians don't have health care coverage, compared with eleven percent of non-Hispanic whites.

The major obstacle is low wages among Indians, and the cost of monthly premiums or deductibles or copays. The study also says bureaucracy surrounding health care and confusion about how it works are deterrents.