More than 4 million Latinos in the U.S. are projected to lose their health insurance over the next ten years, according to a new report – in Florida alone, more than half of the Latinos going without coverage.
This is according to UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. The group’s report published in early May, citing Congressional Budget Office projections, said the number of uninsured people in the US is expected to increase by 8.7 million between 2025 and 2028.
Meanwhile, over the next 10 years, an estimated 14 million U.S. residents will lose their insurance, including 4 million Latinos. The report points to cuts in federal support for Medicaid and Affordable Care Act insurance, totaling more than $1 trillion.
Florida is the state with the second-highest number of Latinos most likely to be uninsured, with 858,000. California leads the way with 917,000.
Still, those projections are based on the idea that “Medicaid beneficiaries of all races and ethnicities would be equally likely to lose coverage.” In fact, “Latinos and members of other historically marginalized communities are likely to experience disproportionate disadvantages.”
Stan Dorn, director of the Health Policy Project at UnidosUS, said, “Unlike the major coverage losses of the past, which resulted from recession-induced layoffs and the end of employer-based coverage, today’s large coverage losses are entirely self-inflicted, the result of policy choices made by Congress and the Administration.”
Deportation concerns are also having an impact, the report said. Between 2023 and 2025, the number of immigrant parents who said their families avoid public insurance programs out of fear will nearly double, from 11% to 18%.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect reporter for USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. Reporting by Sarah Perkel, USA TODAY Network/USA TODAY