MIAMI (AP) – Salsa music blares from the food court of a dilapidated Miami shopping center as Latinos head to kiosks and offices holding “Obamacare” signs, where they hope for renewal. health insurance plan before the year is over.
This is the area near former President Barack Obama's shopping mall. Review of medical care It's more popular than anywhere else in the country, according to federal data. The area has also seen a shift from Democrats to Republicans in recent years, with former President Donald Trump hosting several rallies here as part of his efforts to reach out to Latino voters.
Trump vowed that Resuming efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 law It will be felt strongly in the region and could reverse some of the Republican shift among South Florida's Latinos, experts say.
President Joe Biden's re-election campaign is pushing back on Obamacare, which was enacted when Biden was vice president, as part of a broader effort to shape a widely expected 2024 rematch between Biden and Trump. They are already capitalizing on Trump's statements.
“Health insurance is very necessary for everyone,” said Odalys Arevalo, one of the managing partners of a health insurance agency serving Spanish-speaking clients in Miami. “And I also know that anyone who supports Republicans who have health insurance through Obamacare is not going to support the fact that one day it's going to be taken away. That's a fact.”
Arevalo and her business partner, Marcy Cabrera, helped people navigate the Affordable Care Act insurance market and helped Cubans, who saw the coined name “Obamacare,” We set up a registration center to remember what it's like to walk away saying, 'No, no, no.' Republicans oppose the review, arguing that it would result in expensive government takeover of health insurance.
Many Latinos are considering insurance because insurance companies can no longer deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, Arevalo said. The following year, women began enrolling by the tens of thousands, earning them the nickname “Madrinas del Obamacare” (Godmothers of Obamacare), a reminder of the important role godparents play in Latino culture.
They then renamed themselves “Las Madrinas de los Seguros,” or the godfathers of insurance, to offer other plans. Yet they continue to emblazon the words Obamacare on their office walls and advertisements.
Insurance agents work at Las Madrinas de los Seguros (Spanish for “Godmother of Insurance''), a health insurance agency that serves customers in Spanish-speaking countries. A photo of Arevalo (right) and Marcy Cabrera hangs on the wall. , Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, at a shopping center in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“Obamacare” can be seen on advertising flags, business and bus signs throughout Miami. And federal data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows how widely used it is here.
Approximately 3.4 million Hispanic residents have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Florida led in enrollment, with more than 3.2 million consumers choosing a plan during last year's enrollment period, which ran from November 2022 to January. And Miami-Dade is the county with the most enrollments, with about 750,000 consumers, more than a quarter of the total population.
Florida is also one of 10 states resisting Medicaid expansion under the health care law.
The two ZIP codes with the highest number of enrollments last year and this year were Doral, a center of Venezuelan and Cuban communities just north of Miami and a common stop for President Trump's visits and rallies; and in Hialeah.
Last month, President Trump posted on his Truth Social site that “Obamacare's costs are out of control, and what's more, it's not good health care.” He said he was considering alternatives, but did not disclose his plans. But he said repealing the law was not possible, recalling when the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blocked years of efforts to repeal the law in July 2017. He said he would not give up.
During his administration, Republicans succeeded in passing a provision that would reduce the penalty for not having health insurance to zero, but this provision was the most unpopular part of the law, and it helped local residents Local residents say they feel more secure.
The Miami Herald said in a recent editorial that President Trump's plan is “too disconnected from voters,” a sentiment echoed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The Biden campaign quickly mobilized a response, with Florida Democratic Party Chairman Nikki Fried specifically mentioning the popular area of ”Obamacare.”
“Miami-Dade County will be hardest hit by President Trump's anti-health care policies,” Fried said.
According to a KFF poll conducted in May 2023, 59% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act. A similar poll by a nonprofit group focused on health policy found that 66% of Hispanics said they had a favorable opinion of the law.
According to APVoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of U.S. voters, 62% of Florida's 2022 median voters say it is the federal government's responsibility to ensure that all Americans have access to health insurance. I answered that it should be. About a third of Florida voters in the 2022 midterm elections said it shouldn't be the government's job. Seventy-seven percent of Latino or Hispanic midterm voters in Florida said it should be the federal government's responsibility to guarantee health care coverage for all Americans. One in five say he shouldn't.
Zurina Ruiz, 72, a former lawyer from Venezuela, said she learned of the Affordable Care Act options soon after arriving in the United States in 2017. She is especially grateful for the availability of medication to treat high blood pressure, she said. she. Green card holders, refugees, and immigrants who have been granted temporary protected status or who have recently entered the country on humanitarian parole are also eligible for compensation under the law.
“This is very important to me. I don't think candidates can just let this program disappear,” she said. “Millions of low-income people will be left without insurance.”
Lewis became a U.S. citizen in May but is not registered with any political party. She doesn't know who she'll vote for next year.
“It hasn't been decided yet and there is no official candidate,” Ruiz said, adding that he still feels his political ties to Venezuela are stronger. Much of the surge in Republican support in Miami is due to Trump's track record of opposing socialist leaders across Latin America, including imposing White House sanctions on Venezuelan officials.
“But health policy is a top priority for me,” Lewis said.
Biden's re-election campaign ran ads in battleground states that contrasted his efforts to lower drug costs with Trump's new pledge to repeal health care reform. The Florida market is not included.
Mr. Arevalo, one of the godfathers, believes that Miami voters will not necessarily approve of all the positions of the candidates they ultimately support.
But when it comes to the local verdict on Obamacare, she said that despite some initial hesitation, once understood, the program was embraced by Miamians.
“When Trump was elected, some people said they didn't want anything to do with Obamacare. We said, 'Obamacare, Trumpcare, whatever,'” she said of what they told people. . “The important thing is that everyone has access to health insurance and is able to take control of their health.”
