5.23.25 – Medicaid Hurts Everyone

Our Health Education & Equity work emerged five years ago as a series of coordinated actions to address knowledge gaps and service disparities related to Filipina/x/o American health outcomes.

During the wee hours of the morning, the House voted to advance budget legislation to slash Medicaid. The bill now goes to the Senate, which will begin its own process over the coming weeks. If the bill becomes law, it will mark the largest cuts made to Medicaid in our collective history.

Over a third of Medicaid recipients are children. Making it harder to receive and maintain approval means more kids will lack basic medical care – no vaccines, no prevention, and no coverage when they get sick. Let’s also be clear: the work requirement is a trap. The majority of Americans who receive Medicaid are on it because they are unable to work. Instituting this requirement is going to remove people who need access to vital healthcare services the most. Providing our people and communities with the proper care in the long term costs the system less and saves more lives.

In California, we remain one of the largest Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups to be eligible for Medi-Cal, our state’s Medicaid program. Due to policies against data disaggregation in Texas and Nevada, we are unable to uncover the true extent of Filipinas/xs/os who rely on Medicaid in the other communities we serve.

Shamelessly stealing from Americans who rely on Medicaid for life-saving care, medication and treatment is inhumane and vicious.

Our state leaders need to respond to these actions. Meanwhile, our communities can also meet the urgency of this moment!