Organizations Supporting Action on COFA Medicaid

As organizations, businesses and community groups working to remove barriers to healthy living, we urge Congress to fix a legislative oversight that has led to inequitable access to health care for thousands of Pacific Islanders in the United States. Since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), people residing in the United States under the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) have been categorically ineligible for Medicaid. This has caused thousands of Pacific Islanders to be denied basic access to health care, undermining the U.S. relationship with our COFA allies and causing worse health outcomes for COFA families in the U.S.