Health insurance disparities among racial/ethnic minorities in same-sex relationships: an intersectional approach.

Objective: We examined disparities in health insurance coverage for racial/ethnic minorities in same-sex relationships.

Methods: We used data from the 2009 to 2011 American Community Survey on nonelderly adults (aged 25-64 years) in same-sex (n = 32 744), married opposite-sex (n = 2 866 636), and unmarried opposite-sex (n = 268 298) relationships. We used multinomial logistic regression models to compare differences in the primary source of health insurance while controlling for key demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Results: Adults of all races/ethnicities in same-sex relationships were less likely than were White adults in married opposite-sex relationships to report having employer-sponsored health insurance. Hispanic men, Black women, and American Indian/Alaska Native women in same-sex relationships were much less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance than were their White counterparts in married opposite-sex relationships and their White counterparts in same-sex relationships.

Conclusions: Differences in coverage by relationship type and race/ethnicity may worsen over time as states follow different paths to implementing health care reform and same-sex marriage.