Access to healthcare

THE United States could restore access to healthcare for citizens of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia who live in the US. Such a change would help thousands of Pacific islanders who have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the US. Citizens of the three countries are allowed to live in the US under the compacts of free association, but they haven’t been allowed Medicaid since 1996. That lack of access is attributed to high mortality rates and health inequalities for Pacific islanders across the US, particularly in places like Hawaii, Arkansas and California.