Los asiático-americanos, los nativos hawaianos y los de las islas del Pacífico constituyen una población en rápido crecimiento en California y Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, a medida que envejecen, las investigaciones indican que es menos probable que recurran a cuidados paliativos o que estén familiarizados con las opciones para el final de la vida.

A nivel nacional, este grupo representa alrededor del 6% de la población, y el 15% en California. Sin embargo, al igual que muchas minorías, enfrentan mayores disparidades en la atención médica.

Ben de Guzman, de la alcaldía de Washington, D.C., es hijo de inmigrantes filipinos. Afirma que las creencias culturales pueden dificultar las conversaciones sobre la muerte y el morir, y que el idioma también es una barrera.

"Debido a que nuestras comunidades no hablan inglés en la misma proporción que otras comunidades, poder hablar con los médicos y las aseguradoras de salud es un problema, especialmente en el contexto de la legislación sobre la muerte o el morir," explicó de Guzman.

Se estima que se hablan más de 100 idiomas en las comunidades asiático-americanas y de las islas del Pacífico. Muchos han participado en las celebraciones de este mes para conmemorar el Mes de la Herencia.

Quienes viven en comunidades Asiático-Americana, Nativa Hawaiana y de las Islas del Pacífico suelen vivir en su casa a medida que envejecen, en lugar de en centros de atención a largo plazo o residencias de ancianos. Tras trabajar con la Diverse Elders Coalition, de Guzman comenta que se unió al grupo de defensa Compassion and Choices para aprender más sobre cómo los diferentes grupos étnicos abordan los cuidados paliativos y de hospicio.

"Existe mucho estigma cultural que las personas tienen particularmente en torno a los cuidados de fin de vida, diferentes percepciones de la muerte, que están influenciadas por las expectativas y los entendimientos culturales que nuestra gente tiene sobre el envejecimiento," insistió también el entrevistado.

De Guzman dice que las conversaciones sobre la muerte y la agonía entre las generaciones de Asiáticos-Americanos, Nativos Hawaianos y de las Islas del Pacífico son más fáciles que hace algunas décadas.

"Hemos estado traduciendo para nuestros padres durante 40 años, por lo que estamos mejor preparados para tener estas conversaciones que la comunidad en general hace 40 años," aseguró además de Guzman.

La End of Life Option Act de California (Ley de Opción al Final de la Vida), a menudo llamada "muerte con dignidad," entró en vigor en 2016.



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As Congress reviews budget slashes to health care in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a new evaluation from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects 16 million Americans, including 1.8 million Medicaid and Healthy Indiana Plan recipients, would go without health insurance.

If the bill passes as is, said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, health providers would see a sharp increase in what is known as uncompensated care, when people without coverage get sick but are unable to pay.

"And it means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments," he said. "And lots of them are going to be forced out of business, and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties."

Republicans question the Congressional Budget Office projections, believing that cutting $715 billion from Medicaid eliminates fraud. They want to add specific work mandates for healthy working-age adults. The GOP bill aims to fund Trump administration priorities, including more immigration raids and border wall construction, and extending tax cuts passed in 2017.

According to the research site KFF, nearly 569,000 Hoosiers are enrolled through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion.

Bivens said he fears that if the bill becomes law, he sees the measure as a transfer of income from vulnerable families to already wealthy Americans. He noted that the average cuts to Medicaid, which would take effect after the 2026 midterm elections, would be more than $70 billion per year.

"And then if you look at the tax cuts that will be received by just people making over $1 million per year, those are $70 billion as well," he said. "We're going to take $70 billion away from poor families on Medicaid, and we're going to give it to families who are making more than $1 million per year."

Six Nobel laureate economists have signed an open letter opposing cuts to safety-net programs in the budget reconciliation bill, warning the measure would add $5 trillion to the national debt.


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As Congress considers cuts to safety net programs in what Republicans are calling the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 16 million Americans, including 140,000 in Colorado, would lose Medicaid health insurance.

Josh Bivens, chief economist at nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute, said if the bill passes as-is, health providers would see a steep increase in what is known as uncompensated care, when people without coverage get sick but cannot afford to pay their medical bill.

"It means hospitals and doctors no longer receive that income stream from Medicaid payments," Bivens pointed out. "Lots of them are going to be forced out of business and there's going to be closures of hospitals, especially in rural counties."

Republicans have cast doubt on the Congressional Budget Office projections and claimed cutting $715 billion from Medicaid by eliminating fraud and adding work requirements for adults would not reduce coverage. The GOP bill aims to fund Trump administration priorities, including more immigration raids and border wall construction, and extending tax cuts passed in 2017.

Bivens stressed if the bill becomes law, it would result in what he describes as the direct transfer of income from vulnerable families to the richest Americans. He noted the average cuts to Medicaid, which would kick in after the 2026 midterm elections, would be more than $70 billion a year.

"Then if you look at the tax cuts that will be received by just people making over $1 million per year, those are $70 billion as well," Bivens explained. "We're going to take $70 billion away from poor families on Medicaid, and we're going to give it to families who are making more than $1 million per year."

Six Nobel laureate economists have signed an open letter opposing cuts to safety net programs in the budget reconciliation bill, warning the measure would add $5 trillion to the national debt.

While headlines about the latest Trump-Musk feud may catch more people's attention, Bivens added the bill will have the biggest effects on Coloradans.

"I think the fact that six Nobel Prize winners said, 'This is important enough for me to try to draw attention to the implications of this bill,' should make people realize the stakes are really large," Bivens emphasized.


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A New Mexico coalition is stressing an urgent need for the state to adopt the strongest possible heat risk standards for indoor and outdoor workers.

New Mexico is the sixth-fastest-warming state in the nation, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, fueled by climate change which makes heat waves more common.

Carlos Matutes, community advocate for the environmental group GreenLatinos, said 80% of those working in agriculture are Latino, as are 64% of those working in the building trades. He added Latino workers are overrepresented in oil and gas production and need to be protected.

"Depriving them of paid rest periods, of shade, of water during the summer months is unconscionable," Matutes asserted. "We're trying to make sure New Mexico Environment Department establishes these rules as quickly as possible."

Two states, Texas and Florida, have passed laws limiting local governments' ability to require employers to provide water breaks to outdoor workers. In contrast, California adopted protections in 2006. Matutes noted the Environmental Department has already announced the process to consider a heat-protection rule has been delayed and will not take effect before workers endure this summer's heat.

It is not just workers who suffer from extreme heat but also kids in school classrooms.

Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers-New Mexico, said the days of putting a box fan in a classroom window on hot days are long past and the number of sweltering days increases each year.

"Thinking through a student's day, from the time they get on the bus, with buses that don't have air conditioning, in the cafeteria, in the library, all of those places," Holland outlined. "If they don't have proper ventilation and good air quality, research shows students feel fatigued, they are unable to focus, all of those things."

As might be expected, Holland added late afternoon, following the lunch break, is when students are most miserable, which disrupts the learning environment. This summer's forecast calls for hotter-than-normal temperatures from coast to coast, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.


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