Table 4.
Decomposition Results for Health Care Expenditure among Whites and Latino Citizenship/Nativity Category by Time of Residence in the United States
| Latinos | Noncitizen Latinos ≤10 Years | Noncitizen Latinos >10 Years | Naturalized Latinos ≤10 Years | Naturalized Latinos >10 Years | U.S.-Born Latinos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1: probability of any health expenditures | ||||||
| Whites (reference group): predicted value=0.88 | ||||||
| Predicted value | 0.68 | 0.53 | 0.61 | 0.64 | 0.77 | 0.73 |
| Total difference | −0.20 | −0.35 | −0.27 | −0.24 | −0.11 | −0.15 |
| Total explained | −0.15 | −0.26 | −0.17 | −0.13 | −0.05 | −0.11 |
| Significant individual factors (% of total difference) | ||||||
| Age | 5 | 5 | −12 | 9 | ||
| Education attainment | 11 | 9 | 15 | 8 | 14 | |
| Uninsured | 21 | 24 | 18 | 53 | 21 | 15 |
| Usual source of care | 24 | 25 | 28 | 40 | 22 | 21 |
| English response | 10 | 12 | 10 | 7 | ||
| Model 2: ln(total health expenditures) | ||||||
| Whites (reference group): predicted value=7.27 | ||||||
| Predicted value | 6.70 | 6.31 | 6.47 | 6.76 | 6.95 | 6.79 |
| Total difference | −0.57 | −0.95 | −0.80 | −0.51 | −0.32 | −0.48 |
| Total explained | −0.27 | −0.73 | −0.39 | −0.32 | −0.01 (NS) | −0.19 |
| Significant individual factors (% of total difference) | ||||||
| Age | 16 | 20 | 6 | 25 | 29 | |
| Education attainment | 11 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 9 | |
| Worse health status | −16 | −21 | −19 | −12 | ||
| Uninsured | 17 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 8 | |
| Usual source of care | 10 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 8 | |
| Model 3: OOP share | ||||||
| Whites (reference group): predicted OOP share=0.39 | ||||||
| Predicted value | 0.45 | 0.58 | 0.51 | 0.43 | 0.41 | 0.41 |
| Total difference | 0.06 | 0.19 | 0.12 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| Total explained | 0.06 | 0.16 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 0.02 |
| Significant individual factors (% of total difference) | ||||||
| Education attainment | −6 | −16 | −16 | −10 | ||
| Worse health status | −12 | −10 | −40 | −49 | −22 | |
| Uninsured | 112 | 91 | 100 | 340 | 189 | 140 |
| Medicaid | −18 | −6 | −10 | −101 | −50 | −48 |
| Usual source of care | 15 | 11 | 11 | 69 | 21 | 32 |
Notes. Data sources: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and National Health Interview Survey (2000–2007). Factors that explain 5% or higher of the total differences are reported. Nonsignificant results for each decomposition model are excluded for brevity. All regression models include year fixed effects. Among individual factors, positive/negative coefficients indicate the share of explanatory variables positively/negatively associated with health spending disparities. The share of observed characteristics explained by the model is the ratio of total explained over total differences. For example, the share of observed characteristics between Latinos and whites for outcome 1 is −0.15/−0.20=75%. The remaining share (25%) corresponds to unobserved heterogeneity.
NS, nonsignificant difference with the reference category; OOP, out-of-pocket expenditures.