Donald Trump and Republicans have put their uber-wealthy donors over Americans of all walks of life. In their big, ugly bill, Republicans made over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, ripping care away from millions of Americans and raising health care costs for 22 million others who buy insurance on their own. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are particularly impacted by these cuts as many rely on these programs as lifelines to access affordable health care. Forty-one percent of AAPI adults said health care costs are the most important problem facing them and their family. Fifty-five percent of AAPI individuals opposed Republicans’ health care cuts, with nearly 5 million people in AAPI communities facing steep premium hikes or loss of coverage altogether.
Republicans’ Medicaid Cuts Are Impacting Nearly 3 Million Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Trump and Republicans passed $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for big corporations and billionaires. Not only is Medicaid the nation’s largest health insurance program, providing health care for nearly 70 million people, it is also a lifeline to affordable care for nearly 3 million AAPI Americans who relied on Medicaid for health care coverage in 2024. Increasing Medicaid access is the single most important action available to expand coverage and address access to quality care. Research confirms that Medicaid expansion saves lives and drastically reduces racial and ethnic health coverage disparities. Poverty is associated with adverse health outcomes, and nearly 17 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families are living in poverty compared to 13 percent of all US families. Programs like Medicaid also boost financial well-being for everyone and undoubtedly help to lower the racial income gap. After enrolling in Medicaid, a 2018 study found that low-income adults had $1,140 less in unpaid debt in states that expanded Medicaid. Over the past decade, research has shown the gap in medical debt between Medicaid expansion and holdout states has grown approximately 30 percent.
Republicans Skyrocketed Health Insurance Cost for Over One Million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Affordable Care Act made a huge difference for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, practically eliminating disparities in health insurance coverage between AAPIs and white Americans. But after Republicans ripped away ACA premium tax credits, 22 million Americans, including over 1.5 million AAPI individuals, are seeing their health care costs double and triple, and are being forced to make difficult decisions to make ends meet. Following Republicans’ failure to extend ACA tax credits, 156,000 AAPI individuals have lost access to $0 marketplace plans. Huge declines in effectuated enrollment have also been reported after families have been unable to stretch their budgets to cover both GOP health care hikes and the cost of Trump tariffs.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Make Up a Large Share of the Health Care Workforce, Which Is Suffering From GOP Cuts. Asian Americans make up 22 percent of doctors, 10 percent of nurses, and over 8 percent of home health aides in the United States. Every day, these community servants make big sacrifices to serve their communities. Now, GOP cuts to health care are making their jobs harder, leading to layoffs, and adding additional strain to understaffed hospitals. According to Becker’s, over 19,000 people have been laid off from hospital jobs since 2025.
The Big, Ugly Bill’s Orphan Drug Provision Puts Cancer Treatment Out of Reach. Cancer is the leading cause of death in Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese individuals, ranks second in Asian Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Japanese individuals, and third in Samoan individuals. Now, thanks to Republicans, cancer treatment will be prohibitively expensive for many AAPI seniors. Republicans’ big, ugly bill included a provision that expanded the exclusion of orphan drugs from Medicare drug price negotiation. This has delayed popular cancer drugs, Keytruda and Opdivo, from being included in price negotiation this year — keeping prices high and out of reach for many AAPIs battling the disease. Deferring drug price negotiation for orphan drugs increases out-of-pocket costs for patients and Medicare spending. If Keytruda was included in drug price negotiations this year, seniors who use the drug would have saved an estimated $3,300 annually. Delaying or excluding orphan drugs not only means higher costs for patients, but will also cost the federal government $8.8 billion over the next decade in lost Medicare savings. This is just another example of how the Trump administration and Republicans continue to prioritize cash grabs for big corporations over life-changing savings for everyday people.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Benefit From Democrats’ Prescription Drug Policies. Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act lowered health care and prescription drug costs for AAPIs by addressing disparities in access and outcomes. Asian American adults are 6 percent more likely than US adults to have diabetes. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, approximately 31,000 Asian American Medicare enrollees save approximately $500 annually due to the $35 insulin cap. Making insulin affordable saves countless lives and reduces diabetes related complications.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Caregivers Report Poor Health Outcomes and Higher Rates of Emotional Stress. Nearly 20 percent of caregivers identify as Asian American and provide over 24 hours per week of care. These are often women who are working uncompensated and caregiving for family members. One in three Asian American caregivers reports having poor health outcomes as a result of caregiving and experiencing emotional stress, 44 percent more than their counterparts. Therefore, imposing work reporting requirements punishes family caregivers with paperwork that often leads to coverage losses, and wastes money on high administrative costs instead of health care. In practice, work requirements are known to throw thousands of people off coverage regardless of whether or not they qualify for an exemption. An estimated 5 million Americans will lose coverage due to work requirements. 92 percent of people with Medicaid are working in a job that doesn’t provide health care, including 7.3 million people who identify as caregivers.
Trump and RFK Jr.’s HHS Cuts Leave Health Disparities “Unseen and Unaddressed.” Trump and RFK Jr. have cut billions of dollars in funding to dismantle data collection and research being conducted through Health and Human Services (HHS) and universities to track and address health disparities across the United States. In early 2025, the National Institute of Health (NIH) cut nearly 1,000 grants or parts of grants for studies varying from HIV to maternal mortality. Nearly half of scientists whose grants were terminated identify as a person of color and were more than 3 times as likely to receive an equity-related termination compared to their white counterparts. These draconian cuts are undermining disease prevention, food inspection, and drug safety, raising the danger Americans face.
Navigator Funding Cuts and Language Access Programs Add Barriers to Health Care for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Community. In 2025, RFK Jr. and HHS announced a 90 percent cut in Navigator funding. The Navigator program was designed by Congress to provide “fair and impartial information and services” to individuals looking for health insurance through the ACA Marketplace. Navigators provide information about eligibility and enrollment, which is particularly helpful for underserved communities whose income and job status may change several times throughout a year. Trump has also designated English as the official language of the United States, effectively limiting language access programs across federal agencies. Nearly a third of AAPIs are limited English proficient. Language and interpretation services are paramount for ensuring access to health coverage, care, and improving health outcomes for non- or limited English speakers in the United States. Without language access programs, health disparities amongst people of color and those with low incomes will continue to grow.