Maria Guiñaga lost her last steady job in a shrimp packing plant due to her arthritis. And along with her job, she lost the possibility of accessing the health system.

Guiñaga is one of the nearly 24 million Latinos who cannot afford private health insurance. María is younger than 65.

"Now I cure almost everything with an herbal tea and for my joint pain I use those ointments that heat the body," she said. Guiñaga has been living legally in the United States for more than 30 years.

Latinos are the least protected among the uninsured: 55.1 percent lack insurance, compared with 25.8 percent of non-Hispanic Whites and 40.3 percent of African-Americans.

For those who have not yet reached retirement age, do not qualify for public assistance or simply cannot demonstrate their legal residence in the country, home remedies and over-the-counter drugs are the only resources within their reach.

But having a job is no guarantee of health insurance. The Familias USA report indicates that eight of every 10 people without health insurance in the United States have some kind of employment.

In a recent meeting on reforming the health system under the presidency of Barack Obama, Dr. Alice Chang of the Medical Center of the University of California in Los Angeles shared one of the many cases of Latinos without health insurance.

In the case of Latinos, the problem is more severe because the community tends to work in sectors such as construction, maintenance, or the food industry, where employers seldom offer health insurance.

And when that benefit is available, often the portion of the insurance that the employee would have to pay is beyond his or her means.

"Medical costs here are prohibitive. So many people put off seeking medical attention until the severity of the illness is evident. And then sometimes it is too late," said Geraldine Henrich-Koenis, spokesperson for Familias USA.

When they presented the report on the uninsured in the United States, Ron Pollack, director of Familias USA, indicated that "the situation is worse than the epidemic."

"We immigrants are strong people, used to working hard and not getting sick," explained Hugo, an immigrant living in the United States for 14 years.

Guaranteeing health care to every family in the United States was one of the main promises of President Obama's campaign.