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The Painful Impact of Obamacare on Hispanics

The Painful Impact of Obamacare on Hispanics 

President's Failure to lead hurts Spanish Speakers, Working Families

(Washington, D.C.) – As the rollout of Obamacare continues on its disastrous path and doubts swell over whether the website to enroll can be fixed by the established November 30th date – attention is now turning to the painful impact that these problems are having on the Hispanic community in states across the country. Polling shows more pessimistic views on healthcare costs, quality of care, and the ability of Hispanics to keep the insurance plan they current have. The most recent Gallup survey, shows the President's approval rating has dropped to just 49 percent among Latinos – and to 39 percent among all Americans.

Latinos in particular have reason to question the President's commitment to their community. He did not pursue comprehensive immigration reform in 2009, as he had promised to do- even with a democratic House and Senate – The Administration has yet to roll out a Spanish-language site to allow enrollment to the plan, has no firm timetable for doing so- yet, people will still be penalized if they don't get insurance before the mandated time frame. Furthermore, the Administration has corrected security flaws on the English-language site, but allowed them to remain on the Spanish-language site. And according to Secretary Sebelius, functions of the Spanish-language site were " pared down" to try to improve Healthcare.gov.

Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative released the following statement:

"Sadly, the Administration is reaping what it has sown. The President has paid lip service to the Hispanic community, but done little to earn our support. And the refusal to acknowledge the real negative effects of the healthcare law – and to put forth a plan to undo the damage – is naturally causing his approval ratings to fall. 

People recognize that millions of Americans are losing policies they like due to Obamacare. They know that more and more workers are seeing their hours cut, as entrepreneurs try to comply with costly new mandates. They realize that insurance premiums are on the rise and are beginning to see the connection – understanding that this law will cause them to lose access to their doctors, and will increase wait times for care. Yes- the problems go far beyond a website – It is time for leadership and transparency with the American people."

For interviews with a LIBRE representative, please contact:  Judy Pino, 202-578-6424 or Brian Faughnan, 571-257-3309.