New resource provides crucial insights on AANHPI health across survey, community, and government data sources
December 11, 2025 — With millions of Americans slated to lose coverage for health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, AAPI Data today published By the Numbers: AANHPIs and Health, a resource guide that provides detailed information about AAPI public opinion on health as well as disparities in health outcomes, access to health care, and other related services such as food assistance.
In addition to AAPI access to health care subsidies under the ACA, which is up for debate and a vote in Congress this week, there are several other health-related provisions, ranging from food assistance to nutrition assistance to Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that face funding cuts in 2026.
“As a trustworthy source of data and insights about Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, we are excited to share our latest resource guide on health data,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “It’s essential that policy decisions around healthcare are informed by data. And the data is clear: AAPIs want more investment in the healthcare system and oppose cuts in health benefits to low-income residents, even if it means cost savings for the federal budget.”
Key findings in the resource guide include:
- Health care is personally important to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: 41% of AAPI adults cited health care as the most important problem facing them and their family
- Health policy cuts in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill (HR1) are unpopular among AAPIs: 55% of AAPI adults said they would oppose a bill that would save $1 trillion over 10 years by reducing Medicaid for low-income residents.
- The proportion of uninsured has declined significantly since the passage of Obamacare, dropping from 16% to 6% among Asian Americans and declining from 17% to 11% among NHPIs. Significant disparities exist among subgroups, with Mongolian (21%) among Asian Americans and Marshallese (21%) having among the highest rates without health insurance.
- Most AANHPIs benefiting from HealthCare.gov selected the Silver plan with Cost-Sharing Reductions: 64.5% of AANHPI consumers in 2024 selected this option. Silver plans with CSRs reduce out-of-pocket costs like deductibles and co-payments for income-eligible individuals.
“In my past work in public health and social work, I have seen firsthand how important it is for advocates to have timely and accurate disaggregated data as they work to improve health outcomes for AANHPI communities,” said Michele Wong, postdoctoral researcher at AAPI Data. “I’m grateful to the work of our graduate student researchers who were invaluable in gathering the data for this guide, and I hope that this guide will prove a useful resource for those in the health fields and beyond.”
“Our recent AAPI Policy Priorities Survey demonstrated that healthcare is one of the most important issues facing AAPIs and their families,” said Gregg Orton, National Director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. “Given recent Congressional actions around health coverage, it is vital that we are tuned in. This guide will be an important resource as our coalition continues to rally around the issues that matter most to AAPIs and advocate for affordable healthcare for all.”
By the Numbers: AANHPIs and Health is the latest in a series of timely and user-friendly guides that AAPI Data has produced to help the work of journalists, policy makers, and community partners. These guides provide curated access to resources on AAPI Data’s website, including survey data and demographic data via the Community Data Explorer.
Past topics for By the Numbers have included resource guides on education, economic hardship, and immigration.