Expenditure cuts, immigration and Medicaid are well up on the priorities list on the Washington agenda. This political climate offers fertile terrain so that misinformation and myths multiply on social networks. Some of the most common focus on immigrants, Latinos and Medicaid.
Posts circulate on the platforms, stating that the Latin beneficiaries of Medicaid – the federal health program managed by the states for low -income or with disabilities – “do not work”, and exaggerations about the percentage of people with Medicaid who are Latin.
On February 26, the United States House of Representatives voted for a narrow margin in favor of a budget plan that could lead to Medicaid cuts of up to $ 880,000 million over a decade. Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are part of the National Security Network, which covers about 80 million people. Registration to Medicaid increased under the Law of Low Price Health Care (ACA) and after the start of the Covid-19 Pandemia, but then began to fall during the last two years of the Biden Administration.
The impact of immigrants on the national medical care system can exaggerate in the midst of heated political rhetoric. The current vice president, JD Vance, said during the 2024 election campaign that “we are taking bankruptcy to many hospitals by forcing them to offer attention to people who do not have the legal right to be in our country.” Politifact described that statement as “false.”
Kff Health News, in alliance with Factchequeado, compiled Five myths that circulate on social networks and analyzed them with experts.
🟩 Do Latinos who receive Medicaid?
Most yes. An analysis of Medicaid data made by KFF revealed that 67% of Latinos received by Medicaid work, “which represents the largest proportion of adults who receive Medicaid who work compared to other racial and ethnic groups,” said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of the Medicaid program and people without KFF insurance.
“For many low -income people, the myth is that they are not working, although we know for many collected data that many people work but do not have access to affordable insurance sponsored through the employer,” said Timothy McBride, co -director of the Center for the progress of health, policies and economic research services, part of the Public Health Institute of the University of Washington in St. Louis.
Neither the Minority Health Office of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) nor the Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers (CMS) responded to the requests for comments.
🟩 Are the Latinos the largest group registered in Medicaid?
No. Non -Hispanic whites are the largest demographic group in Medicaid.
Registration in the programs is 42% of non -Hispanic whites, 28% of Latinos and 18% of non -Hispanic blacks, with small percentages of other minorities, according to a document of the CMS.
The proportion of Latinos in the total registration of Medicaid “has remained quite stable for many years, between 26 and 30% since at least 2008,” said Gideon Lukens, director of Research and Data Analysis of the Health Policies Team of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In a blog post on February 18, Alex Nowrasteh and Jerome Famularo, of the Libertarian Cato Institute, wrote: “The greatest myth in the debate on the use of social assistance by immigrants is that non -citizens, which include illegal immigrants and those who are legally in the country with various temporary visas and residence cards, use social assistance disproportionately. That is not the case. ” They included Medicaid in the term “social assistance.”
Although Latinos are not the largest group in Medicaid, they are the demographic group with the highest percentage of people who receive Medicaid. There are about 65.2 million Hispanics in the country, which represents 19.5% of the total population of the United States.
And approximately 31% of that population is registered in Medicaid, partly because Latinos used often have jobs that do not offer benefits such as health insurance.
The eligibility for Medicaid is based on factors such as income, age and status of pregnancy or disability, and varies from one state to another, said Kelly Whitener, associate professor of practices at the Center for Children and Families of the McCourt Public Policies School of the University of Georgetown.
“Eligibility for Medicaid is not based on race or ethnicity,” Whitener added.
🟩 Do most undocumented Latinos use Medicaid?
No. According to the Federal Law, immigrants who lack legal status are not eligible for the federal benefits of Medicaid.
For January, 14 states and the Columbia district had used their own funds to expand the coverage of children in the country regardless of their immigration status. Of these, seven states and the district of Columbia expanded coverage to some adults regardless of their immigration status.
The states cover in their entirety the cost of offering medical attention to these beneficiaries. The federal government does not put a penny.
The Federal Government does pay the so -called Emergency Medicaid, which reimburses hospitals for medical emergency care for people who, due to their immigration status or other factors, usually do not qualify for the program.
The Emergency Medicaid began in 1986 under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, signed by Republican President Ronald Reagan.
In 2023, the emergency doctor represented 0.4% of the total medicaid expenditure.
Some conservative legislators say that immigrants who are in the country without papers should not receive any medical benefit.
“Medicaid is intended for US citizens who need it most: older people, children, pregnant and disabled women,” said Dan Crenshaw, republican representative by Texas, on social networks. “But liberal states are finding ways to play with the system and make taxpayers cover the medical attention of illegal immigrants.”
🟩 Do Latinos remain in Medicaid for decades?
Experts say that there is no analysis for race or ethnicity of time that people use the program.
“People who remain in Medicaid for a longer time are those who have Medicaid due to a disability and live with a medical situation that does not change,” said Tolbert.
The beneficiaries who use long -term medical support services represent 6% of the total number of people in the program.
Many beneficiaries are in the program temporarily, McBride said. “Some studies indicate that half of the people in Medicaid abandon it in a short period of time,” he said, as in a year.
🟩 Are Latinos in Medicaid the group that uses medical services the most?
Latinos do not use more Medicaid services significantly than others, experts say. They receive preventive services (such as mammograms, Pap Lameou and Colonoscopias), Primary Care and Mental Health Care less than other groups, according to CMS documents and the Payment and Access Commission to Medicaid and Chip, a non -partisan organization that provides policy and data analysis.
Latinos do use medicaid delivery and lighting services more. Latin families and non -Hispanic white families represent around 35% of Medicaid’s births, although non -Hispanic whites constitute a greater proportion of the general population.
While Latinos make up 28% of all those enrolled in Medicaid, represent 37% of members with limited benefits, covering only specific services.
“Actually, they use medical care services less than other groups, due to systemic barriers such as the limited domain of English and the difficulty navigating the system,” said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, professor at the Fielding School of Public Health of UCLA and research director at the Latino Politics and Politics Institute of the University.
Latinos also avoid using services for fear of the “public burden” rule and other policies, said Vargas Bustamante. The president, Donald Trump extended the public burden policy and applied it firmly during his first term, although he softened under the government of Joe Biden. The rule was difficult to make immigrants who use Medicaid or social assistance programs obtain permanent residence or become US citizens.
“The intimid effect of public burden persists, but recent orders such as mass deportation or the elimination of citizenship by birth have generated their own terrifying effects,” added Vargas Bustamante.
