Oxnard—The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center’s Citywide results on the well-being of young Oxnard adults story continues with Professor Veronica Terrique, the Director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, saying 10 percent of 18-34 year olds lack health insurance in California.
"THIS percentage is almost twice as high in Oxnard,” she said. “There are various reasons for this; one of them is the cost is high. It’s expensive to purchase health insurance.”
She said some people may not know they’re eligible to purchase Medi-Cal, and the study cited immigration reasons for not having health insurance.
An estimated 47 percent of Oxnard’s young adult immigrant residents ages 18-34 lack health insurance compared to 18 percent of California’s immigrant residents the same age.
Jacqueline attended Oxnard College, is now a UCLA undergrad, and said many survey participants didn’t understand how health insurance works.
“Language is another barrier our community faces,” she said. “Many immigrants are Spanish monolingual speakers; meanwhile, Oxnard’s Indigenous population speaks Mixteco and Zapotec, and limited literacy is available during the application process. Many may not understand what’s being asked of them.”
She said the immigrant community fears seeking health insurance due to legal status, and they’re unaware…
