A Census Undercount Could Damage People’s Health Care

Many factors could prevent numerous communities from fully participating in the 2020 Census. These factors include underfunded Census outreach, a proposed Census question asking about citizenship, and broader policy changes that could increase immigrants’ fears about responding to the Census. Without vigorous action to prevent a significant undercount, states will suffer major cuts to federal health care funding, with grim results for health care and other critical state services.

1. Why a Census undercount would deny states enormous amounts of federal funding—especially for Medicaid
2. How much federal health care money each state could lose from a Census undercount
3. How these funding losses would put health care at risk for seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable state residents
4. How Medicaid cuts that result from a Census undercount could take away employment and damage our common health care infrastructure that serves all residents
5. Where to learn more about (1) the need for a 2020 Census that counts everyone and (2) how you can help combat emerging threats to a complete and accurate Census.