Racial Equity and Health Policy

This analysis examines the potential impacts of a provision in the House reconciliation bill that proposes reducing the federal matching rate for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion population from 90% to 80% for states that either provide health coverage or financial assistance to purchase health coverage to individuals who are not lawfully residing in the United States.

This policy watch discusses key provisions in the draft 2025 budget reconciliation legislation that are aimed at limiting health coverage for immigrant families.

The latest KFF Survey of Immigrants finds that immigrants’ worries about detention or deportation have risen sharply since 2023, even among lawfully present immigrants and naturalized citizens. This poll finding includes new insights about immigrants’ attitudes and experiences during the early days of President Trump’s second term.

During his second term, President Trump has implemented an array of immigration policy changes focused on restricting immigration and increasing interior immigration enforcement efforts. These policy changes include restrictions on both lawful and unlawful immigration into the U.S., increased interior enforcement activities to support mass deportation, attempts to end birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizen immigrants, and rescinding protections against enforcement action in previously protected areas such as schools, churches, and health care facilities. These actions have broad impacts across immigrant families of all statuses, including the millions of U.S. citizen children living in them.

Using data from the 2022 National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), this issue brief examines key characteristics of agricultural workers, including their citizenship status, health coverage, and access to health care. The Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies may compound health challenges and risks this groups faces and have negative impacts on the cost and availability of food.

This brief describes federal citizenship and immigration status eligibility and eligibility verification requirements for Medicaid. Eligibility for federally-funded coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program is limited to U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present immigrants.

This brief presents research on the impacts of immigration enforcement on children, including school attendance and performance; provides data on the share and number of school-aged children by state who live in immigrant families based on KFF analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS); and discusses potential implications of declines in school enrollment and/or attendance among these children on school funding.

To increase understanding of how shifting immigration policies may affect the direct care workforce providing long-term care services, this data note uses the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) to provide an overview of the role that immigrants play in the direct care workforce for long-term care (LTC) services

In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman examines the implications of Secretary Kennedy’s reorganization of HHS and why it’s a sharp break from past efforts to reorganize the department.

This brief explains the potential impacts of the elimination of diversity and disparities-related initiatives under the Trump administration on racial health disparities.