Alex Ortega, PhD, is the dean of the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health and Professor of Public Health at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and he is an affiliate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. He is a nationally recognized public health and health care policy scholar whose work is focused on health equity. His research has improved understanding of the complex health risks and outcomes for Latino and other minoritized populations in the United States. He has had continuous National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for over 25 years totaling near $30 million. He has authored over 160 scientific papers and editorials, is a senior associate editor of Health Services Research (HSR), and has served as a reviewer for over 60 academic journals and 20 NIH and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study sections.

His research appeared in JAMA, Health Affairs, Health Services Research, Pediatrics, American Journal of Psychiatry, Medical Care, Medical Care Research & Review, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and many other top-ranked journals. He serves on several scientific advisory boards including as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census, program consultant for the NIH Common Fund’s Community Partnerships to Advance Science (ComPASS) Program, and a member of the NIH/NHLBI Observational Study Monitoring Board (OSMB) for the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

He is currently PI, with Dr. Keawe Kaholokula, on the Maui LOA (Learnings to Overcome Adversity) study. This study is funded by NIH and aims to understand community and health system resiliency following the devasting August 2023 wildfire in the town of Lāhainā on the island of Maui. Using community-engagement, this study is exploring the impacts and resiliency of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Filipino, and Latino immigrant populations affected by the disaster. His other research projects are addressing several important public health issues for Latino populations, including access to and utilization of health care, understanding the resiliency of the Puerto Rico health care system and the physical and mental health of island Puerto Ricans after increasing and compounding public health disasters, and the factors that contribute to mis- and disinformation for Latino immigrants that lead to health care decision-making, among many other topics.

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The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access and Utilization Among Asian American Subgroup

​Authors examined changes in health care access and utilization associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for different Asian American subgroups relative to non-Latino whites (whites). They examined changes in 4 health care access measures and 2 utilization measures among whites and 7 Asian American subgroups using 2003–2017 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data. They estimated the unadjusted and adjusted percentage point changes on the absolute scale from the pre-ACA to post-ACA periods. They also estimated the pre-ACA to post-ACA changes between whites and Asian American subgroups using a difference-in-difference approach.

Findings:

  • After the ACA was implemented, uninsurance decreased among all Asian American subgroups, but improvements in disparities relative to whites in these measures were limited. In particular, Koreans had the largest absolute reduction in uninsurance (−16.8 percentage points) and were the only subgroup with a significant reduction in terms of disparities relative to whites (−10.1 percentage points).
  • However, little or no improvement was observed in the other 3 access measures (having a usual source of care, delayed medical care in past year, or delayed prescription drug use in past year) and 2 utilization measures (having a physician visit or emergency department visit in past year).

Despite coverage gains among Asian American subgroups, especially Koreans, disparities in access and utilization persisted across all Asian American subgroups.

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Photo of Books
Journal Article
Journal Article

The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access and Utilization Among Asian American Subgroup

​Authors examined changes in health care access and utilization associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for different Asian American subgroups relative to non-Latino whites (whites). They examined changes in 4 health care access measures and 2 utilization measures among whites and 7 Asian American subgroups using 2003–2017 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data. They estimated the unadjusted and adjusted percentage point changes on the absolute scale from the pre-ACA to post-ACA periods. They also estimated the pre-ACA to post-ACA changes between whites and Asian American subgroups using a difference-in-difference approach.

Findings:

  • After the ACA was implemented, uninsurance decreased among all Asian American subgroups, but improvements in disparities relative to whites in these measures were limited. In particular, Koreans had the largest absolute reduction in uninsurance (−16.8 percentage points) and were the only subgroup with a significant reduction in terms of disparities relative to whites (−10.1 percentage points).
  • However, little or no improvement was observed in the other 3 access measures (having a usual source of care, delayed medical care in past year, or delayed prescription drug use in past year) and 2 utilization measures (having a physician visit or emergency department visit in past year).

Despite coverage gains among Asian American subgroups, especially Koreans, disparities in access and utilization persisted across all Asian American subgroups.

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