Cuts to the Medicaid program could leave millions of blacks and Latinos without access to doctors’ visits, medications and treatment to control chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes and cancer, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday, Oct. 13, shows cutting Medicaid would put blacks and Latinos with serious health care needs at risk and increase racial and ethnic health inequality, said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, one of the groups that released the report.

“There are critical disparities in the delivery of health care in black and Latino communities,” Pollack said during a conference call with reporters. “That medical reality means that Medicaid is a vital lifeline in helping to protect the health care of these individuals.”

Medicaid cuts continue to be debated in Washington, he noted, with the new Congressional super committee considering that option.

The report shows, nationally, more than one in five, or nearly 141,000 of blacks with cancer are covered by Medicaid. Among Latinos with cancer, nearly one in four, or about 105,000, are covered by Medicaid.

In Iowa, about one-fourth of blacks with cancer, or 230 adults and children, rely on Medicaid. While U.S. Census figures show a growing number of Hispanics in Iowa, the number of Latinos with cancer covered by Medicaid is smaller, about 130 or 20 percent.

The report notes that often, conditions such as asthma and diabetes can be managed if treated in a timely manner.

“Medicaid helps make it possible for these individuals to see a doctor, to fill prescriptions, and to keep up with screenings and other preventive care so that they can act quickly and avoid life-threatening complications if their illness gets worse or recurs,” the report stated.

Dr. Cedric Bright, president of the National Medical Association, said many Medicaid recipients are the working poor who contribute to the economy.

“Short-term gains (in cuts) will be tomorrow’s inflated costs,” he said. “Medicaid must continue to be that ounce of prevention.”

For blacks, the numbers were highest for heart disease and stroke, with more than one in five, or 1.9 million with those conditions covered by Medicaid. The percentage was even greater for blacks with chronic lung disease, with 37 percent or more than 1.4 million relying on Medicaid.

In Iowa that ratio was elevated, with 3,230 blacks with chronic lung disease, or 46 percent, relying on Medicaid.

The same held true for Latinos with chronic lung disease, such as asthma, with nearly 40 percent, or 1.4 million relying on Medicaid coverage nationally, and 4,540, again, nearly 40 percent, in Iowa.

Other groups involved in the report were the American Diabetes Association, American Lung Association, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Council of La Raza, National Medical Association and the National Urban League Policy Institute.

For statistics on diabetes and the full report, see: www.familiesusa.org.