The Hill News

There was a bright spot in the U.S. Census data released this week.  While nearly a million more Latinos are wrestling with the ills of poverty, uninsurance has gone down in the Latino community.  The improvements are slight, but many assumed that even small gains couldn’t be possible, as record numbers of Hispanics grapple with the challenges of high unemployment rates, declining incomes, and smaller household budgets. 

The small improvements are due in large part to the role that public health insurance programs, like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), play in the households of Latinos and other Americans.  There is, however, a serious concern on the horizon.  Come Christmastime, the recently appointed congressional Super Committee will design a federal budget plan hoping to steer the U.S. out of debt.  NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and numerous other civil rights groups fear that this conversation will be mired in po! litics about cutting spending for “less popular programs,” like Medicaid, regardless of the very real need that they serve.
 
Unlike other American communities, Latinos saw boosts in coverage in several areas of health insurance, with more of the population making promising gains in employer-based coverage and Medicare.  But the numbers for Medicaid and CHIP are truly striking and continue to demonstrate that these programs are a lifeline for the Hispanic community.  More than one in four (26.4 percent) Latinos access health coverage through Medicaid or CHIP.  Hispanic children benefit even more, with one in two (49.4 percent) receiving coverage through the programs. 

The robustness of Medicaid and CHIP not only serves as a buffer from uninsurance, but also helps many avoid the frequent challenges of high health care costs which can be especially debilitating when times are already hard.

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