June 29th, 2012 at 10:02 am » Comments (0)

Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Reform, But Farmworkers Will Still Face Challenges in Access to Health Care

The Supreme Court’s decision upholding as constitutional most of the health system reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will enable millions of people to gain access to health care and to improve their health. Unfortunately, many migrant and seasonal farmworkers – due to the nature of their agricultural work and rural communities – will face significant obstacles in taking advantage of the new law. Farmworker Justice will work with community-based organizations, medical providers and government agencies to reduce those obstacles. However, our broken immigration system will continue to interfere with health care access for hundreds of thousands of farmworkers and their children until Congress enacts immigration policy reform.

The Supreme Court’s Decision. Many provisions of the far-reaching ACA were not challenged. The Supreme Court ruled that the ACA’s mandatory health insurance coverage, or “minimum coverage,” requirement is constitutional. Most uninsured people will be required to either buy health insurance or pay a tax that will be collected by the IRS. There will be tax credits, subsidies, health insurance exchanges and other mechanisms to achieve this goal. For those people who are poor or just above the poverty level, the ACA provides for expanded Medicaid coverage. The Court found a constitutional problem with the way the law created financial pressure on states to expand Medicaid coverage. Congress, the Administration and the states must address Medicaid funding.

Farmworkers and the ACA. Harvesting fruits and vegetables and tending livestock subject workers to numerous occupational health risks, from dangerous machinery to pesticide exposure, from repetitive hand movements to intense heat. While a mostly young population, farmworkers often face heightened risks of illness due to crowded and unsanitary housing and unsafe transportation. Wages are very low and few farmworkers receive paid sick leave or other fringe benefits. Most farmworkers do not have health insurance and face geographic, financial, language and other barriers to obtaining health care. Figuring out our health system and taking off time from work to visit the doctor are very difficult for many farmworkers. Government-funded community and migrant health centers address the special needs of farmworkers and do so at low cost, but reach fewer than 20% of farmworkers.

The ACA will positively impact farmworker health through Medicaid expansion (whose funding will depend partly on the response to the Court’s decision), the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), and dedicated funding for community and migrant health centers, enabling them to expand services and double their capacity by 2015.

Unfortunately, many farmworkers and their family members will not be eligible for the subsidized health insurance exchanges or for Medicaid because they lack authorized immigration status. Farmworkers perform a vital role in our economy and deserve health care; their lack of health insurance coverage defeats the purposes of the law, which includes making health insurance affordable and available to everyone. However, for there to be a real solution to the lack of healthcare for farmworkers, we must reform our immigration laws and give undocumented farmworkers the opportunity to earn legal immigration status. We must also support farmworkers in their quest to improve their wages and working conditions and to obtain employment benefits, including employer-provided health insurance.

Farmworker Justice will continue to advocate for improved health care access, work with medical providers to assure high-quality medical care, and educate farmworker organizations about the new health law’s programs.

For more information contact : Alexis Guild www.farmworkerjustice.org

June 28th, 2012 at 1:54 pm » Comments (0)

The Supreme Court ruled this morning that President Obama’s health care reform can move forward, with some complicated caveats around the expansion of Medicaid. The take home point of the ruling: The controversial “individual mandate” to buy health insurance is constitutional, because the penalty for not doing so is a tax and the feds have the power to tax you.

Colorlines.com’s economic justice contributor Imara Jones will… Read more.

June 28th, 2012 at 1:29 pm » Comments (0)

This New York times  op-ed reminds of the harsh realities which propel immigration and the degredation as well as frequent death which results for the “desconocidos” (unknown).

June 28th, 2012 at 12:41 pm » Comments (0)

The 10 Largest Hispanic Origin Groups:
Characteristics, Rankings, Top Counties

Among the 50.7 million Hispanics in the United States, nearly two-thirds (65%), or 33 million, self-identify as being of Mexican origin, according to tabulations of the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. No other Hispanic subgroup rivals the size of the Mexican-origin population. Puerto Ricans, the nation’s second largest Hispanic origin group, make up just 9% of the total Hispanic population in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Overall, the 10 largest Hispanic origin groups—-Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians and Peruvians—-make up 92% of the U.S. Hispanic population. Six Hispanic origin groups have populations greater than 1 million.

Hispanic origin groups differ from each other in a number of ways. For instance, U.S. Hispanics of Mexican origin have the lowest median age, at 25 years, while Hispanics of Cuban origin have the highest median age, at 40 years. Colombians are the most likely to have a college degree (32%) while Salvadorans are the least likely (7%). Ecuadorians have the highest annual median household income ($50,000) while Dominicans have the lowest ($34,000). Half of Hondurans do not have health insurance—-the highest share among Hispanic origin groups. By contrast, just 15% of Puerto Ricans do not have health insurance.

Hispanic origin groups also differ in their geographic concentration. The nation’s Cuban population is the most concentrated—-nearly half (48%) live in Florida’s Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade County is also home to the nation’s largest Colombian, Honduran and Peruvian communities. For Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans, Los Angeles County in California contains each group’s largest community. The largest Puerto Rican and Dominican communities are in Bronx County, New York. The largest Ecuadorian community is in Queens County, New York.

Hispanic origin is based on self-described family ancestry or place of birth in response to questions in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. It is not necessarily the same as place of birth, nor is it indicative of immigrant or citizenship status. For example, a U.S. citizen born in Los Angeles of Mexican immigrant parents or grandparents may (or may not) identify his or her country of origin as Mexico. Likewise, some immigrants born in Mexico may identify another country as their origin depending on the place of birth of their ancestors.

The data for this report are derived from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey, which provides detailed geographic, demographic and economic characteristics for each group.

Accompanying this report are profiles of the 10 largest Hispanic origin sub-groups and an interactive graphic showing characteristics and top counties for each group.

The report, “The 10 Largest Hispanic Origin Groups: Characteristics, Rankings, Top Counties,” authored by Seth Motel and Eileen Patten, both Research Assistants at the Pew Hispanic Center, is available at the Pew Hispanic Center’s website, www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

# # #

June 25th, 2012 at 3:00 pm » Comments (0)

Today, the Supreme Court has let stand the despicable “Papers, please” provision of Arizona’s SB 1070 that allows police to profile individuals based on the color of their skin.

The ruling follows last week’s courageous announcement on administrative relief for DREAMers. While the Obama administration endorses positive reform for our families, the Supreme Court decision supports discrimination over equality.

It’s time for us to hand down our decision. Now is the time to use the power of our movement to stand up for the only real solution for our broken system: comprehensive immigration reform.

How do we do that? Today we are kicking off the RI4A Organizing Project, a national initiative to educate, mobilize, and get out the vote.

We must use our voices and our votes to educate our friends and families about key policies, mobilize our communities, and vote for pro-reform champions like never before. If we do this, we can secure more victories and make comprehensive immigration reform a reality.

We have ambitious goals to push back against the national assault on immigrant communities — and your support will be critical to ensuring reform and justice for our families is a front and center priority, in 2012 and beyond.

Get involved today. The futures of our communities depend on it.

For more analysis on the Supreme Court’s ruling, read and share our latest blog post. We will keep it updated as we learn more about the decision.