The Trump Administration's assault on health and social programs: potential consequences for older Hispanics

Abstract

Health and social welfare policy proposals put forth by the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress could have huge impacts on low-income groups. This paper focuses on older Hispanics, with an emphasis on the Mexican-origin population who form the largest Hispanic subgroup. A demographic portrait is presented that indicates that Mexican-origin individuals have less wealth and lower incomes than do non-Hispanic Whites. Given rising health care costs, lower use of nursing homes, and greater propensity to live with grown children, prevailing economic disadvantage has serious consequences for this population. More restrictive immigration policies aimed at limiting family reunification could have intergenerational caregiving consequences. In addition, because of labor-force disadvantages, low-income Mexican-origin adults are less likely to have private insurance compared to non-Hispanic Whites as they approach retirement. Consequently, Mexican-origin older adults tend to rely on Medicaid when eligible; in contrast, late-life migrants-who do not qualify for federally funded benefits for at least five years-and unauthorized migrants-who are excluded from federally funded benefits-have extremely limited access to safety net provisions. The potential effects of proposed cutbacks in health care financing on older Hispanics are discussed.

Keywords: Hispanics; Medicaid; Mexican Americans; health disparities; immigration.

Figure 1.

Retirement plan by race, Mexican ancestry, and nativity, 2006. Source: 2006 Health and Retirement Study.

Figure 2.

Life expectancy at age 65 and percentage impaired. Source: Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, 1993/94–2010/11; Angel 2015.