Tag: Florida CHAIN
Odalis Comacho at today’s Florida CHAIN presser shares her son’s experience living with epilepsy and no health insurance
Central Florida Latinos Speak Out on “Health Care for All”
Hispanic Health Initiative’s “Conversando Sobre Tu Salud” campaign for Central Florida Health Care for All launched this summer with a press conference and three town hall meetings in Orange and Osceola Counties. More than 120 people attended actions in July and August to educate Latino leaders about the upcoming ACA health insurance enrollment period and the gap in coverage to over 200,000 Latinos and 800,000 uninsured in Florida. Sponsoring organizations included the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, Florida CHAIN, NCLR, and Hispanic Health Initiatives.
Meetings in Poinciana, Englewood, and Buena Ventura Lakes (all predominantly Latino communities) were attended by families and civic leaders largely unaware of the large percentage of uninsured and Florida’s decision not extend health care insurance to nearly 1 million people living below 138% of poverty. Betsy Franceshini, Puerto Rico of the Office of Puerto Rico Government Affairs, “We want to see Medicaid expanded in
Florida as 30% of Latinos and 42% of single men do not have health insurance. They work in the service industry often for minimum wage and cannot afford to health insurance”.
Thirty leaders from community service organizations and local churches planned the events and will lead in organizing meetings with legislators around expanding health care coverage and planning health care insurance enrollment events when this year’s enrollment period starts November.
Medicaid Expansion in Florida – A Latino Perspective
NCLR recently released its report on the impact on Latinos of the failure of Florida to expand Medicaid. Joining NCLR for a discussion and press conference was Planned Parenthood, Florida CHAIN, Mi Familia Vota, WellCare, Hispanic Health Initiative, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando, Rep. Torres, Rep. Rangel, and Sen. Soto. The case for Medicaid expansion will be made as we go into this fall’s election and Sunshine Advocacy looks forward to being a part of this campaign.
The current failure to expand Medicaid in Florida under the Aīordable Care Act (ACA) has had a disparate, adverse impact on the health of the Latinos community:
- According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 200,000 Hispanics are in the coverage gap as a result of the state’s failure to expand Medicaid.
- Latinos are disproportionately represented among those in the Medicaid coverage gap. While Hispanics compose 23% of Florida’s population, they represent 26% of Floridians in the coverage gap.
- Thirty-six percent of nonelderly Latinos in Florida are uninsured—the third-highest rate of uninsured Latinos of any state in the country.
- Lack of insurance and access to preventive care exacerbates health disparities for Hispanics, who are more likely to be confronted with diseases that require routine health management such as diabetes, kidney disease, and HIV/AIDS.
In addition to reducing health disparities for Hispanics, expanding Medicaid carries broader socioeconomic benefits for Latinos. Medicaid expansion has the potential to:
- Improve the financial security of Latinos and other low-income Floridians by reducing the incidence of medical bankruptcies.
- Create up to 121,000 new jobs and generate $71 billion in economic activity during the Įrst ten years. Latino workers in particular, who are disproportionately clustered in jobs that pay by the hour and are more vulnerable to income loss due to their own illness or that of a family member, stand to benefit.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
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