The Complicated Love Story of Filipinos, the U.S., and Healthcare

By One Down in partnership with SOMCAN


Filipinos have long been the heart of healthcare in the United States—caring for families not their own, filling workforce shortages, and holding hospitals together through crisis after crisis. But while they’re essential to the system, they’ve also become some of the most vulnerable to its failures.


Now, as federal lawmakers propose cutting up to $880 billion from Medicaid, many Filipino families across the U.S. are wondering the same thing:

How did we become the backbone of a system that’s so quick to forget us?

A System Built on Filipino Labor


Filipinos make up just 1% of the U.S. population, yet account for:

  • 4% of the entire nursing workforce

  • 28% of all immigrant registered nurses

  • 1 in 7 immigrant healthcare workers overall

  • (Source: NIH, Inquirer, NCBI)


This didn’t happen by accident.


During the U.S. colonization of the Philippines in the early 1900s, the American government established English-language nursing schools in the archipelago—creating a pipeline of workers ready to serve in U.S. hospitals.

Over time, that pipeline expanded into policy: under President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s, the Philippines institutionalized labor export as a national development strategy, sending trained Filipino nurses and caregivers abroad in exchange for remittances back home.

(Harvard IHR, Jacobin)

A Role That’s Essential—But Disposable
Filipinos have continued to serve on the frontlines of U.S. healthcare, especially during the pandemic:

  • 25% of Filipino working adults in the U.S. are in frontline healthcare roles

  • They accounted for 24–25% of COVID-19 nurse deaths, despite being only 4% of the field

  • (Frontiers in Public Health, ABC7)


But the risks go beyond viruses. Many Filipino healthcare workers face:

  • Long hours, low pay, and unsafe working conditions

  • Exploitative recruitment practices, especially for visa-holders

  • Discrimination and racial bias in both hiring and treatment

  • (USA Inquirer, NCBI)


And now, they’re facing Medicaid cuts that could cost them coverage, security, and stability.

What the Cuts Would Do
The U.S. Congress is considering proposals to slash federal Medicaid funding by $800 billion—the largest rollback in the program’s history.

If passed, these cuts would:

  • Strip coverage from millions of low-income Americans, including thousands of Filipinos

  • Defund the clinics and hospitals where many Filipino caregivers work

  • Increase out-of-pocket costs for Filipino elders, families, and essential workers

  • Undermine safety net programs in every state with a significant Filipino population


In Hawaii, around 61,000 Filipinos—roughly 15% of the state’s Medicaid recipients—stand to lose coverage under proposed federal cuts.

In California, New York, Texas, Nevada, and Illinois, the numbers are just as staggering.


Yet despite these stakes, most people—including many Filipinos—don’t even know these cuts are on the table.

(Philippine News, The Filipino Chronicle)

A Love Story That’s Always Been Unequal
The U.S. benefits from Filipino labor—but often at the cost of Filipino well-being.


This dynamic is rooted in neocolonialism: where the Philippines, despite being politically independent, still supplies cheap, skilled labor to wealthier nations, propping up economies and healthcare systems that give little in return.

The result? A global pattern where Filipino workers are essential but disposable.


We raise the children of America’s richest families.

We nurse strangers through sickness and loss.

And yet, we’re the first ones left out when it comes to access, protection, and care.

(SNOQAP, NYU Berlin)

What Can We Do About It?
This isn’t just a federal budget fight—it’s a question of who we choose to care for.


And that means we need to show up for each other. Here’s how:


📞 Join a Phone Bank


Call voters in key districts from home. You don’t need experience—just your voice.

Sign up here


🗳️ Contact Your Lawmakers


Tell your state and federal reps: Protect Medicaid. Protect Filipino families.

Take action now


📣 Spread the Word


Tag your friends. Forward this article. Talk to your elders. Every conversation counts.

Final Thought


Filipinos didn’t just show up to the U.S. healthcare system.

We built it.

We kept it running during a pandemic. We staffed the night shifts. We bathed the sick. We buried our own.


We are caregivers—but we’re also voters, organizers, and advocates.

And if we’re going to be the heart of this system, we deserve to have a say in how it loves us back.


Let’s protect the people who protect everyone else.


👉 Join the fight

👉 Sign up to phone bank

Sources & References
On Filipino Representation in U.S. Healthcare:

  1. NIH – Filipino Nurses Help Shape U.S. Healthcare System

  2. https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2024/10/11/filipino-nurses-help-shape-u-s-healthcare-system

  3. Inquirer – One in Seven Immigrant Healthcare Workers in U.S. Are Filipinos

  4. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/239439/one-in-seven-immigrant-healthcare-workers-in-us-are-filipinos-report

  5. NCBI – Filipino Health Workers and Labor Dynamics

  6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8251240/

  7. Harvard International Review – From U.S. Reign to Brain Drain

  8. https://hir.harvard.edu/from-us-reign-to-brain-drain-the-mass-emigration-of-filipino-nurses-to-the-united-states/

  9. SDSU School of Public Health – A Tradition of Nursing Excellence

  10. https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/news/2023/a-tradition-of-nursing-excellence-in-the-filipino-community

  11. NCBI – Workplace Challenges for Filipino Nurses in the U.S.

  12. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7969854/

  13. Frontiers in Public Health – COVID Disproportionality Among Filipino Nurses

  14. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.958530/full

  15. ABC7 – Filipino Nurses in America: Breaking Stereotypes

  16. https://abc7chicago.com/filipino-nurse-nurses-in-america-history-stereotype/11909898/

  17. NBC News – Filipino Nurses Reflect on Disproportionate Toll During COVID-19

  18. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/filipino-american-nurses-reflecting-disproportionate-covid-toll-look-a-rcna1112

  19. USA Inquirer – Filipino Americans’ Significant Contributions to U.S. Healthcare

  20. https://usa.inquirer.net/129619/filipino-americans-significant-contributions-to-us-healthcare-system

On Medicaid and Proposed Cuts:

11. Philippine News – Budget Cuts on Medicaid to Negatively Impact Low-Income Dependents

https://www.philippinenews.com/budget-cuts-on-medicaid-to-negatively-impact-low-income-dependents/

12. The Filipino Chronicle – Thousands of Hawaii Filipinos Could Lose Their Health Insurance

https://thefilipinochronicle.com/2025/06/06/thousands-of-hawaii-filipinos-could-lose-their-health-insurance-if-cuts-to-medicaid-pushes-through/

13. Protect Our Care – Medicaid Coverage Is at Risk for Millions in the AANHPI Community

https://www.protectourcare.org/new-report-medicaid-coverage-is-at-risk-for-millions-in-the-asian-american-native-hawaiian-and-pacific-islander-community/

14. ASPE, HHS – Coverage & Access Among AANHPI Communities

https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/7f8a700b0af4d4a5cabbe192ef3e3fd1/aspe-coverage-access-aanhpi-ib.pdf

On Labor, Colonial History, and Neocolonialism:

15. SNOQAP – Neocolonialism in the Philippines and the Global Labor Market

https://www.snoqap.com/posts/2022/11/4/neocolonialism-in-the-philippines

16. NYU Berlin Blog – Structural Inequities and Filipino Healthcare Workers

https://wp.nyu.edu/berlinblog/filipino-healthcare-workers/

Next
Next

When They Cut SNAP, They Cut Filipino Culture Too How the One Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts don’t make sense if you’re Filipino