It has been estimated that if Congress makes the large cuts being proposed for Medicaid, roughly 25 percent of Hispanics in the United States are at risk of losing their health coverage.
According to a state-by-state breakdown from the National Council of La Raza, Medicaid is the only source of health coverage for nearly half of all Hispanics under the age of 18 the U.S. This has the council “deeply worried” about the status of the budget and the talks within the White House and congress, said the NCLR Vice president for Research, Advocacy and Legislation Eric Rodriguez during a conference call with reporters.
“Medicaid plays a key role in protecting Latino families from uninsurance in every state in the Union,” said Rodriguez. “Latinos are an important part of our country’s future and will carry the legacy that comes with our runaway debt. But to cut the very programs that keep our most vulnerable healthy is shortsighted. Our nation will feel the severe effects of Medicaid cuts for generations to come.”
He called the manner in the which Medicaid is being targeted for spending cuts as “frivolous and arbitrary.”
The NCLR estimates that if cuts to Medicaid like those suggested by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) are approved, it would result in 12.8 million U.S. Hispanics losing Medicaid coverage.
