On Thursday, President Obama won a large political victory when his controversial Obamacare was supported by the Supreme Court. But the bill includes tweaks to the country's medicaid system, which primarily serves people of color, writes ColorLines' Imara Jones.
As a result, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's longterm effectiveness is in doubt, and the racial and economic inequalities at the very heart of the health care system stand to be reinforced.
Medicaid — funded jointly by the federal government and the states — is the nation's health care plan for the working poor, those in poverty and their children. Enlargement of Medicaid is the single most important provision of the Affordable Care Act for people of color. It's the way that almost all non-whites covered by the law would receive insurance.
If implemented as written, the law expected to cover 32 million Americans, accounting for 80 percent of those currently uninsured. Half of the 32 million are to be brought into the system through Medicaid, and three out of four of those individuals are people of color.
Read Imara Jones' entire piece at ColorLines.
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