Why millions of Latinx people don't access the healthcare system, even in times of need More than a decade after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, around eleven million Latinx citizens around the country remain uninsured. In Uninsured in Chicago, Robert Vargas explores the roots of this crisis, showing us why, despite their eligibility, Latinx people are the racial group least likely to enroll in health insurance. Following the lives of forty uninsured Latinx people in Chicago, Vargas provides an up-close look at America's broken healthcare system, and how it impacts marginalized groups. From excruciatingly long waits and expensive medical bills, to humiliating interactions with health navigators and emergency room staff, he shows us why millions of Latinx people avoid the healthcare system, even in times of need. With a compassionate eye, Vargas highlights the unique struggles Latinx people face as the largest racial group without health insurance in the United States. An intimate account of the lives of uninsured Latinos, this book imagines new, powerful ways to strengthen our social safety net to better serve our most vulnerable communities.
Robert Vargas is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at University of Chicago. He is the author of the award-winning book Wounded City: Violent Turf Wars in a Chicago Barrio.
Robert Vargas, once again, distinguishes himself as one of the preeminent urban ethnographers, showing how racialized systems of inequality shape the so-called choice of Latinos to become insured. He turns the lens away from conventional explanations of Medicaid participation, that too often blame the uninsured population, and exposes those who create the violent conditions of healthcare exclusion. -- Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, author of Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court A moving and revealing book, Uninsured in Chicago offers a critical analysis of the complex social forces that have kept Latinas and Latinos uninsured, neglected or underserved within the U.S. health care system. This inspirational ethnographic study will be a priceless source of information to public intellectuals examining the inadequacies of the U.S. health care system and anyone interested in looking to truly transform it from its complex foundations. Uninsured in Chicago will contribute to the collective healing of the bodies in pain of Latinas, Latinos, and anyone who does not have access to health care. -- Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez, author of Family Secrets: Stories of Incest and Sexual Violence in Mexico Vargas takes us to the everyday worlds that Latino millennials inhabit and navigate as they seek medical care. In rich ethnographic detail, he shows us why and how young Latinos make health insurance decisions, revealing a complex web of bureaucracies of neglect, criminalized health care economies, family obligations, and informal networks. But his contributions go beyond enriching our theoretical understandings of health insurance decisions; he outlines policies that will bring hope to those who struggle for the human right to health care. -- Cecilia Menjivar, co-author of Immigrant Families Robert Vargas's rich ethnographic study probes deeply into the forces that conspire to disadvantage Latinos within the U.S. healthcare system and shape difficult choices. Poignant, insightful, and persuasively argued, Uninsured in Chicago shines a bright light on one of the most vexing problems of our generation. Timely and policy relevant. This is of the most important books you will read this year. -- Roberto G. Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America
