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Connecticut, like other states, launched an online health exchange -- Access Health CT -- where residents can shop for and purchase health insurance. There could be new opportunities for the unemployed or uninsured to receive health insurance. Here, we gather our coverage of changes under the new federal law.

Poll: Latinos Underinformed On Obamacare

Access Health CT

A new poll by a non-profit working to get people health insurance coverage say that a lack of understanding hindered Obamacare enrollment for at least one demographic groups: Latinos. 

The poll was released by the group Enroll America, and was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment. It surveyed about 1,500 people in April.

Of them, roughly half had gotten health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, while the other half remained uninsured. Nearly across the board, Latinos said they knew less about Obamacare than the rest of the population.

"They lagged behind in knowledge on just about every measure that we asked about," said Mike Perry, whose firm PerryUndem conducted the research. "So, lower knowledge levels of things like financial assistance being available -- the tax subsidy -- only 25 percent knew about that, only 28 percent knew about preventative care being free for plans. So they lagged behind in knowledge."

Perry said that may be because Latinos don't have as much experience with insurance as the rest of the population.

"When you look at the newly-enrolled Latinos," Perry said, "they were more likely to have been uninsured before getting the insurance than other groups. Then, when you looked at those who remained uninsured, they're more likely to have been long-term uninsured than other groups. So, [there's] just less familiarity with this insurance world for Latinos."

Of those Latinos who didn't enroll, Perry said they largely thought the process was confusing, and that they weren't eligible. The group said the key to a successful enrollment period later this year will be education and outreach.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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