Minorities Would Be Hard Hit By Medicaid Cuts, Study Warns

By Mary Agnes Carey – Kaiser Health News: Blacks and Latinos would be among those hardest hit if Medicaid funding were cut as part of a deficit-reduction package, according to a new report released today by Families USA,  theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council of La Raza, among others.

In these communities, more than one in four people rely on Medicaid, the shared federal-state health program for the poor, compared with fewer than one in eight whites.

Blacks and Latinos are not only more likely than whites to suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and certain cancers, but they are also more likely to experience complications, to have poorer outcomes and to die prematurely from those conditions, according to the report.

“Without Medicaid, many of these seriously ill people would not be able to afford the care they need. For them, Medicaid coverage is critical.  Federal or state cuts to the Medicaid program would truly put them at risk,” the study warns.  Read Full Article