Immigrants — and specifically, Hispanic immigrants — are among those benefiting the most from Obamacare, a New York Times analysis published Sunday said. The Times’ report on the first full year of Affordable Care Act implementation found that low-wage workers also saw their uninsured rates decrease sharply, as did part-time workers and those with only high school degrees.
“The analysis shows how the law lifted some of the most vulnerable citizens,” the Times reported.
According to the Times report, nearly a third of the increase in insured rates for adults came from the Hispanic community, which makes up only 17 percent of the U.S. population. It attributed the growth in the Hispanic insured rate in part to the legal immigrants who were able to receive insurance because of the law (Obamacare does not provide coverage to undocumented immigrants), some of whom are legal non-citizens.
However, the decision by some states to not expand Medicaid has limited the gains of minority groups and particularly the gains of African-Americans, as about 60 percent of poor blacks live in non-Medicaid expansion states, the Times said.
The Times analysis is based on census data from 2014, which allowed the paper to break down insured rates by race, education, occupation, immigration status, and family structure.
