About the Author

Author Picture

Eric Moreno

Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.

Connect with Eric:
Twitter Link

Articles by Eric Moreno

The Rate of Uninsured Latinos Soared in 2017



For the first time since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2012, the rate of uninsured Americans rose during the fourth quarter of 2017. The uninsured rate rose 1.3 percentage points from to 12.2% from its all-time low of 10.9% at the end of 2016, CNN Money reports according to a Gallup Poll. The increase reflects roughly 3.2 million new uninsured Americans in the U.S. The uninsured rate for both blacks (2.3 percentage points) and Latinos (2.2 percentage points). The ACA-based healthcare exchanges opened in 2014, the same year that Medicaid expansion began. One of the central tenets of the ACA was its individual mandate, which required all Americans to obtain health insurance or incur a tax penalty. Those circumstances were credited with helping reverse the ...

Read More

Could You Cover a $1,000 Emergency?


latino man contruction worker falling off ladder

Life happens. Would you be able to come up with $1,000 for an emergency like a car wreck, a broken arm, or a busted air conditioner? Sadly, 61% of Latino and all Americans say they could not pay for an unplanned emergency expense, according to a report by financial site Bankrate. “Even though unemployment is down and there's been a recent uptick in wages, we aren't seeing the needle move savings,” said Greg McBride of Bankrate told CNN Money. Unexpected bills and expenses aren’t uncommon. More than 30% of all U.S. households had at least one unplanned expense in 2017. But most Americans don’t have an ability to cover it. Almost one in five Americans said they would put the expense on a credit card, Bankrate reports. This usually makes the expense even higher in ...

Read More

Report: 3.6 Million DREAMers Are in the U.S.



Update on April 25, 2018: A federal judge orders the U.S. government to continue Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and accept new applicants, according to the Washington Post. Immigration is a politically divisive issue. It can be hard to keep in mind that real people are affected, no matter what your political views. People's livelihoods began to hang in the balance in September 2017 when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would be rescinding the DACA. DACA is an Obama administration program begun in 2012 that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to apply to defer deportation and legally reside in the country for two years. They can apply for reinstatement after. How many ...

Read More

Trump’s Controversial Citizenship Plans for DREAMers



The White House has proposed changing immigration policy to allow citizenship for up to 1.8 million young people brought into the U.S. as children—in addition to a $25 billion border wall and other security measures, USA Today reports. The proposed bill would blaze a path to citizenship for DREAMers, undocument immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. DREAMers have been in limbo since the Trump Administration rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was created by the Obama Administration to allow undocumented children brought to the U.S. to remain here. The bill, which will be introduced to the House and Senate in the coming weeks, would for the first time provide a clear path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants that ...

Read More

UPDATE: CHIP Gets Funding! Deal Extends Healthcare to Kids for 6 Years!



After over 100 days of uncertainty since funding expired in September 2017... The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has finally received full funding! U.S. Lawmakers voted to fund CHIP for another six years as part of the spending bill which reopened the government on Jan. 22, 2018. The timing could not have been any better, as CHIP temporary funding measures were scheduled to run out, as well. The program has received support both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, according to Vox. However, the program became an unfortunate bargaining tool, which caused widespread concern from both healthcare professionals and families dependent upon CHIP. “This action ends months of anxiety and worry for the hard-working families who rely on CHIP for life-saving health ...

Read More

Univision’s New Campaign Promotes Healthy Habits for Latinos



Univision, one of the world's largest multimedia companies, has launched a new campaign to promote better Latino health. Univision Contigo focuses on promoting healthy habits by providing simple, easy, at-home tips and ideas that families can integrate into their everyday lives. The goal is to get people more active and eating healthier. Healthy eating, regular physical activity and balancing the number of calories you eat with those you burn are key to maintaining a healthy weight. “One way Univision [is committed to Latino health] is through Univision Contigo, our award-winning corporate social responsibility and community empowerment platform,” according to a news release. “[The campaign] focuses on three specific verticals, building strong minds from 0-30, promoting ...

Read More

Report: Saving CHIP Could Save the Government $6 Billion



Millions of Latino and other families depend on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to get healthcare for their children. But CHIP funding ran out in Sept. 30 2017, amid partisan politics. Leaders installed temporary funding to keep the program afloat, but some states are preparing for the worst. What would it cost the government to extend CHIP for five years? $800 million. But if CHIP extends for 10 years, the government would actually save $6 billion, according to the nonprofit Congressional Budget Office, Vox reports. “Extending funding for CHIP for 10 years yields net savings to the federal government because the federal costs of the alternatives to providing coverage through CHIP (primarily Medicaid, subsidized coverage in the marketplaces, and ...

Read More

Latina Celebrity Pushes for Affordable Housing


longoria

The link between housing and health is undeniable. Many Latinos and other minorities lack affordable housing options in their big-city neighborhoods, which impacts everything from their overall health to their education and income. Latina philanthropist and actress Eva Longoria is pushing for more affordable housing. Longoria recently visited San Antonio, Texas (68% Latino) to discuss the topic and tour an affordable housing complex being remodeled by Turner Impact Capital. The group improves apartments with affordable rent in densely populated and ethnically diverse urban areas, according to the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio is expected to have a large, impending affordable housing shortage, studies show. “A lot of this shortage of workforce housing happens ...

Read More