Demographics, Research, and Analysis
The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute continues with its project in demographics, research, and data analysis. The Italian Diasporas: Data Snapshot series provides information regarding a variety of characteristics related to the Italian diaspora. These summaries and more extensive reports answer questions such as:
What sets the Italian diaspora apart from those of other ethnic groups?
What distinguishes the Italian diaspora across the countries of immigration?
Are there significant differences in patterns of assimilation and acculturation for the Italian diaspora?
This month the topic is Health Insurance Coverage.
What can be seen in the data is that Italian Americans far surpass the general population when it comes to maintaining healthcare coverage, with 3.7% of Italian Americans without health insurance compared to 8.3% of the general population without coverage.
This difference comes down not solely to income disparities, although that is a significant factor. In the inaugural Data Snapshot, where general statistics about the Italian American community in the United States were presented (Data Snapshot 1 – April 2024), it was found and remains the case that the median income for Italian American households is approximately twenty thousand dollars greater than for non-Italian American households: $90,487 versus $74,755. This indicates that Italian Americans have the financial ability to pay for the costs of a private insurance plan or supplemental insurance coverage should their employer not provide access to insurance or offer only limited coverage.
One must also consider attitudes toward health insurance coverage together with expectations, especially among more recent immigrants to the United States. Although Italy and the United States have a similar Health Care System Index (64.88 for Italy, 67.09 for the United States),* the costs for the consumer are vastly different because Italy has a universal healthcare system that is, largely, government financed. Unfortunately, most data sets about attitudes toward health insurance coverage are aggregated and do not permit analysis by ethnicity. One may infer from the data presented here that Italian Americans are able and willing to bear the costs of adequate health insurance coverage.
*Health Care Comparison Between Italy and the United States
For previous Data Snapshots click here.