September 15th through October 15th is Hispanic Heritage Month, and we’re reflecting on how our broken, for-profit health care system impacts Latinx people across the United States.

For more than a decade, the Latinx community has had the second-highest uninsured rate of any racial or ethnic group within the United States — in 2023, it was 17.9 percent, compared to just 6.5 percent for white people.¹

These uninsured rates are even higher in states where Medicaid was not expanded, and are only expected to get worse due to Republicans’ historic cuts to Medicaid passed this summer.

Of the 72 million Americans covered by Medicaid, more than half are people of color, with Latinx people making up 29.9% of all Medicaid recipients.² According to Stateline, the $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid may disproportionately hurt Latinx doctors and their patients.³

In addition to experiencing high uninsured rates, Latinx people are disproportionately harmed by our broken health care system in other ways. According to the KFF/The Undefeated 2020 Survey on Race and Health, one in five Latinx adults reported being treated unfairly due to their race or ethnicity while getting health care for themselves or a family member.⁴

In a survey conducted this past August, Data for Progress found that Latinx voters listed “ensuring high-quality health care for every American” as their #1 issue.⁵

We have the solution to make that a reality: Medicare for All. This single-payer, universal health care system would cover all people with comprehensive benefits and no financial barriers to care. Medicare for All also contains provisions to build, upgrade, and modernize facilities and hire staff in underserved areas. While there is no single policy that would solve systemic racism, Medicare for All would go a long way toward addressing these inequities.

If you speak Spanish and want to get involved in our Medicare Para Todos work, reaching out to monolingual Spanish speakers about Medicare for All, sign up here to join us →

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In the face of so many federal attacks on our care, let’s use this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month as a reminder to recommit ourselves to the task of achieving a health care system that truly works for ALL.

In solidarity,

Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All

 

Sources:
1 - KFF
2 - KFF
3 - Stateline
4 - KFF
5 - Data for Progress