Hi, I'm Dan Fromak, host of Axios Recap. This morning, we are bringing you the latest in our special Axios series called Hard Truths on Systemic Racism. And this morning's focuses on disparities in health care access. Now I'll turn it over to my colleague, Nailabudu.

Good morning. I'm Naila Boodoo. Welcome to Axios today. And we're here with you on a Saturday to answer one big question.

Why do fewer Latinos have health insurance when compared to nearly every other group in the U.S.?

That's our focus in this episode of our special Hard Truth series. It's a year-long project at Axios, examining systemic racism in the U.S.

Here's why today's issue matters.

The workers we've deemed essential, especially in the past year, are the ones at least likely to have basic health insurance.

And many of those workers are also Latino. About 40% of workers in cleaning jobs like janitors and maids

are Latino. This is also an industry where nearly three and ten workers are uninsured. That's one

reason why so many Latinos don't have health care coverage,

because in the U.S., access to insurance is mostly tied to employment. And although they're just as

likely to have full-time work, Latinos are also more likely to be in jobs and industries where their

employer doesn't offer health insurance. or if their employer does provide insurance,

they often can't afford it.

There are also government benefits like Medicare or Medicaid,

which are meant to fill in these gaps.

That's what we want to go deeper on today.

In particular, we're zeroing in on something called

the public charge rule. This is a more subtle reason why many Latinos are uninsured.

Because, as we'll hear, it's not just the rule, but the fear it's instilled that's having an effect.

Here's what you need to know about public charge. This rule has been around for more than a century,

but basically, anyone who's likely to use a lot of government benefits is unlikely to get a green card or a visa.

For most of our history, the government didn't clearly define what exactly a public charge is or what exactly would make

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