Medicaid Use by Latinos

MONDAY, APRIL 7
PROGRAM #10736 12:00 PM PT

Medicaid Use by Latinos. 

After Congress approved a budget plan, the debate over federal Medicaid cuts continues. In times of heated rhetoric, claims that immigrants and Latinos “abuse” the federal-state safety net program are common. Are Latinos a burden for the health care system? A journalist who fact checked the assertions discusses what’s myth and what’s fact.

Guest: Paula Andalo, Ethnic Media Editor, KFF Health News Silver Spring, MD.

Training More Doctors in Latino Rural Communities. The San Joaquin Valley is known as a doctor desert, an area with the least number of doctors and nurses per capita compared to other parts of California. To address this critical shortage of doctors, a state legislator is proposing a funding plan to secure the future of medical education at the medical school operated by UC Merced, the only school of its kind in the Central Valley.

Guest: Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, California State Assembly (D-27 Fresno, Madera, Merced), Sacramento, CA.

Gutting Pollution and Climate Programs. The Environmental Protection Agency is being shaken by deep budget cuts and plans to roll back regulations such as environmental justice. Some worry that small towns will be left out to themselves to find protection from wildfire smoke, drought and flooding. An environmental advocate discusses how vulnerable farm working communities are bracing for these plans.

Guest: Nayamin Martinez, Executive Director, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Fresno, CA.

Photo: National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

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