Growing old as a Latino in the US: the challenges of accessing medical care

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1. The theme to be highlighted: Hope in the World Cup

The farewell of Leo Messi, the historical dominance of Brazil, and the Uruguayan heavenly force: South American soccer fans hope that this will be their year in the World Cup in Qatar.

Big picture

: South American teams have long been strong in the tournament, racking up nine titles since the World Cup began in 1930.

• But no team from the region has won since 2002, when Brazil defeated Germany.

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Current situation

: Ecuador won against Qatar in the opening game on Sunday.

It was the first time in the 92-year history of the World Cup that a host team had lost the first match.

• Brazil is the favorite, according to Telemundo Deportes analyst Horacio Elizondo.

  Other predictions also praise

  Verdeamarela

  for being the country with the most cups in history and having the number 1 FIFA ranking.

• Argentina fans believe that Messi, who is playing in his last World Cup, will have a great cup no matter how far the

  Albiceleste

  go .

  But the Argentine team suffered a defeat against Saudi Arabia in its premiere this Tuesday.

• That could make it difficult for Argentina to advance to the next phase by having zero points while Mexico and Poland, in the same group, accumulated one each by drawing on Tuesday.

• Two-time World Cup champion Uruguay plays its first match on Thursday against South Korea.

  And Costa Rica, the other Latin American team in Qatar, will debut on Wednesday against Spain.

2. Hispanics to victory in New Mexico

New Mexico elected more Latinos to state offices in the Nov. 8 midterm elections than any other state.

With this, almost all state offices are controlled by Hispanics;

all of them Democrats.

Big Picture

: The result illustrates loyalty in that state to the Democratic Party versus Republican gains elsewhere, like South Texas.

Details

: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham won a second term with 52% of the vote in a close race with Republican and former meteorologist Mark Ronchetti.

The lieutenant governor, Democrat Howie Morales, was also re-elected.

Clockwise: Michelle Lujan Grisham, Howie Morales, Raúl Torrez, Stephanie Garcia Richard, Joseph Maestas, and Laura Montoya.

Photos: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images;

Office of Lieutenant Governor;

Bernalillo County DA, New Mexico State Land Office;

courtesy of the Mastas and Montoya campaigns

• Lujan Grisham is the third Hispanic person to win re-election for governor of New Mexico.

  No other state has elected three consecutive Black, Latino, Asian or Native American governors.

• Raúl Torrez was voted in as attorney general;

  Laura Montoya won to be state treasurer;

  Stephanie Garcia Richard was re-elected as public lands commissioner;

  and Joseph Maestas got the post of State Auditor.

• Hispanics currently make up about 40% of the New Mexico legislature, the highest percentage of any state, according to the state Legislative Council Service.

• The most recently elected state legislators are younger: the median age has dropped from 65-70 to under 55, according to Sisto Abeyta, a state Democratic Party official.

Background

: New Mexico, where approximately 48% of the population is Hispanic, has a long history of electing Latino candidates for state office. 

Yes, but

: The state had not had a Latino senator for 44 years, until Ben Ray Luján was elected in 2020.

3. As you get older, more and more challenges

Older Latinos in the United States, especially those who are not citizens or live in poverty, are often deprived of health care resources designed to help them age more comfortably, according to researchers and activists.

• That's partly due to financial and language barriers, plus they're more likely to be uninsured.

  But there is also a cultural factor: many families feel they have to take care of themselves, so they may avoid programs that could help them or fail to know that they exist.

Big Picture

: Latinos will be the largest 65+ demographic by 2028. Yet the social safety net threatens to leave them adrift.

Photo illustration by Gabriella Turrisi/Axios.

Photo: Jack Manning/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In figures

: It is estimated that 75% of Latinos who work in care are women.

In all, these caregivers spend about half their income each year helping a family member, according to a 2021 AARP study.

• That can create a cycle in which Latino caregivers have fewer savings as they age, forcing them to rely on younger relatives, Rita Choula, AARP director of caregiving, told Axios reporter Sabrina Moreno.

• The costs can also be emotional and physical.

  A 2021 report from the American Society on Aging that noted that compromise could lead Latino caregivers to neglect their own health.

Up close:

The essential industries in which many Latinos work are less likely to include employer-sponsored retirement plans or private health insurance.

That leaves them working longer and relying on their adult children instead of being able to afford a nursing home, said David Hayes-Bautista, director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

• Also, although Latinos have a longer life expectancy than most other demographic groups, their health can worsen after age 50 due to discrimination and low-paying, dangerous working conditions, according to a report in the journal

  BioMed Central .

  Public Health

  .

4. In photos:

Indian

 and Native American

 Heritage  Month

Every November in the United States, the legacies and ongoing struggles of indigenous and native communities and tribes in the United States are honored and remembered.

We have prepared a collection of images that capture the lives of Native American people;

Cajun Cleveland, of the Diné Navajo tribe, was named the 2022 Miss Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial Queen in AugustMario Tama/Getty Images

5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean

1.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador canceled the

summit that was to be held this week.

• AMLO, as he is known, proposed to postpone it and hold it in Peru since the president of that country, Pedro Castillo, faces investigations for corruption.

• The Peruvian Congress prohibited Castillo from leaving Peru while it is deliberating whether to open a vacancy process for him, a kind of impeachment.

Ilan GoldfajnAndré Coelho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

2. Brazilian economist

Ilan Goldfajn was elected this weekend to head the Inter-American Development Bank.

• He will replace Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was the first American to lead the IDB and was ousted in September after an inappropriate relationship scandal with a woman who worked under him.

  He denies the accusation.

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