Inclusion and Exclusion of Latinos in the Affordable Care Act: Challenges and Opportunities for Achieving Health Equity

Abstract

The growth of the Latino population underscores the need for the elimination of social, cultural, and economic barriers to quality health care. The Affordable Care Act includes a number of provisions that will facilitate this goal. Notwithstanding the Affordable Care Act's many benefits, variations in the states' expansion of Medicaid and the continuation of the 1996 welfare reform policy making some legal immigrants ineligible for the program will limit the extent to which Latinos gain access to quality, affordable, and culturally appropriate care and treatment. This article examines the political environment that shaped the Affordable Care Act and its implications for Latino health. The inclusive and exclusionary aspects of some of the health care law's provisions and implementation is explored within the context of the nation's commitment to the elimination of health disparities and international consensus on a right to medical care regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, age, income, or legal status.

Keywords: Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, Hispanics, Latinos, Immigrants, Health Disparities, Health Equity, Health Policy, Medicaid