Asian Americans disproportionately rely on Social Security benefits. They’re the most likely to need insurance

For many people, it’s hard to get past the talking points to find out what the real impact of the Republican tax reform bill will have on individuals and their families. The tax bill passed by both houses of Congress Wednesday is supposed to be about pocketbook issues, but hidden in the 500-page bill are measures that will hurt Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In the end, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare — the real targets of the GOP — are at risk. Instead of a real middle-class tax cut, the overwhelming majority of the benefits of this bill — an astounding 83% — go to the top 1% over the next decade. With corporate profits at an all-time high, this plan permanently lowers the corporate tax rate and increases taxes on 57% of middle-class Americans over the next decade. In states with a high number of Asian Americans, including California, New York and Hawaii, many families will also see a tax increase as a result of changes to the state and local tax deduction. Coincidentally, they also overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in 2016. Health care Unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act after over 70 attempts, the Republicans sought to sabotage the ACA by taking away its primary funding mechanism. Donald Trump gloated Wednesday when he pointed to the healthcare changes contained in the tax bill, saying the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate amounts to a repeal of Obamacare. “The individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed because they get their money from the individual mandate,” Trump said. Uh … no. As usual, Trump is wrong. The bill doesn’t repeal Obamacare, but it does weaken it considerably. Potentially, over 1.2 million AAPI enrollees in the ACA could be adversely affected. “In order to include tax loopholes for the wealthy, this bill removes a crucial element of the Affordable Care Act – the individual mandate—and will undoubtedly destabilize health insurance markets and cause millions to lose coverage,” said Kathy Ko Chin, president and CEO of the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum. The loss of the mandate means younger, healthy people will think they don’t need insurance and will thus, opt out. Many people pay insurance premiums for years and never file a claim. In the case of the ACA, this can lead younger and generally healthier people to think they´re wasting money and cause them to cancel their coverage. In the event they suffer a loss, however, they must pay the full cost themselves. But, if you are young, you think you’re invincible and you’re willing to take that risk. When anyone buys an insurance policy, you´re buying protection. You´re protected against unexpected medical costs, whether you ever actually use the coverage or not. With the expected loss of younger people essentially supporting the system, insurance companies will have to raise their rates to the point where over 13 million people will no longer be able to afford health insurance. AAPI have always had a favorable view of the ACA. It’s difficult to determine why this is so but some say people are attracted to the ability to keep young adults (up to 26 years of age) under the family coverage and the fact so many AAPI have small businesses that can’t afford the expensive private insurance plans but can afford the ACA. The available data suggest that Asian Americans have obtained health insurance through the marketplaces created by Obamacare at a higher rate than other groups. Thus, if Obamacare were repealed, Asian Americans might see their dramatic gains in health insurance coverage reversed. The ACA has helped to reduce the national uninsured rates for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders by 59%, the greatest reduction of any racial or ethnic group. Before the ACA, many groups, such as Koreans, Cambodians, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi Americans had uninsured rates above 20%.