Latinos Health Care in Arizona Would Be Devastated If ACA Repeal Makes It Through Senate

WASHINGTON, June 20 -- The National Council of La Raza issued the following news release:

Nearly 930,000 non-elderly Arizona Latinos who have health coverage through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state's Medicaid program, would be in danger of losing their health insurance if the Senate health care repeal bill mirrors the cuts made by the House, according to a fact sheet released today by Families USA and NCLR (National Council of La Raza).

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the percentage of the uninsured non-elderly Latino adults in Arizona dropped from 30 in 2013 to 17 percent in 2015. And the percentage of uninsured Latino children dropped from 15.1 to 10.6 percent. Although there is still much to improve when it comes to access to health insurance options in all counties in Arizona, gutting AHCCCS would reverse this progress.

"What Republicans in Congress are trying to accomplish is sneaky and heartless. They should be working hard to ensure hardworking Arizona's Latino families stay healthy and don't need to once again worry about bankruptcy if they have a medical emergency," said Craig Obey, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for Families USA. "Instead they are engaged in a secretive and immoral effort to strip coverage and care from hundreds of thousands in the state."

About 60 percent of the children who are enrolled in AHCCCS or KidsCare are Latino. Republican Senators are now working behind closed doors on their own version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the health care bill passed last month by the House of Representatives which would cap and cut spending on traditional AHCCCS and phase out the expansion of AHCCCS, taking away $19 billion in federal funding from the state and making it harder for Arizonans--and the rest of the country--to get the health care they need when they need it.

"The Republican health plan in Congress would put lives at risk by severely undermining the extraordinary health insurance gains that millions of Americans, including Latinos, have experienced," said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguia. "Changes to Medicaid, in particular, would be devastating for children, low-income individuals, the elderly and people with disabilities when states lose billions of dollars in federal funding and are forced to cut benefits, insurance coverage, or both. Every Senator who is considering voting for the AHCA should realize they are voting to jeopardize the lives and financial stability of working families back home."

Families USA, a leading national voice for health care consumers, is dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care and improved health for all.

NCLR--the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States--works to build a stronger America by creating opportunities for Latinos. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org