More Latinos, please

As the Affordable Care Act’s March 31 deadline for enrollment draws near, Covered California is making a push to sign up more Latinos.

Officials with the state’s health-insurance exchange said they will spend $8.2 million on Spanish-language advertising through the end of enrollment, and plan on hiring more bilingual call-center employees and hosting more enrollment events in areas with dense Latino populations, according to SFGate.com.

Latinos are uninsured at higher rates than other ethnicities in the state, but also tend to be younger—and therefore, healthier—than the general population. As such, their participation would help lower insurance rates for everyone.

Given the importance of Latino enrollment, Covered California has received criticism for failing to hire a sufficient number of bilingual insurance agents and enrollment counselors, and for presenting parts of its website only in English.