El Tiempo Latino
A Working Report · Tiempo Company
Washington, D.C. · July 2026

D.C.'s Latino Coverage
Model, Under Threat

Washington, D.C. covers its Latino residents better than any jurisdiction in the region. The 2026 federal Medicaid cuts and new immigration rules put that hard-won gain at risk, and communication is how the District holds it.

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5.3%
D.C.'s Latino uninsured rate, the lowest in the region and a fraction of Maryland's 24.3%. The District proved near-universal Latino coverage is possible. The 2026 federal changes are what threaten it.
The stakes

The success worth protecting, now under federal pressure.

D.C. was insulated from the subsidy cliff because most low-income residents are covered through Medicaid and local programs, not the marketplace. But OBBBA's Medicaid cuts reach the District, and the October 2026 non-citizen eligibility rules land on its immigrant Latino families. The risk is not a collapse; it is eligible families quietly falling out amid the churn.

74K
Latino residents, many in immigrant and mixed-status households.
~90%
Of U.S. marketplace enrollees rely on the credits that shrank; most D.C. residents are on Medicaid instead.
Oct '26
Non-citizen eligibility restrictions and six-month redeterminations raise the risk of quiet, avoidable loss.
Communication holds the gain

This is the part you can do something about.

In a District that already covers its Latino residents, the job is to keep a gap from opening. For Latino and Spanish-speaking families, how coverage changes are communicated is one of the strongest predictors of whether they stay enrolled.

When outreach was cut, Latinos fell out first
−3.5 pts
Coverage drop among Hispanic adults when federal outreach funding was cut, the largest of any group in a peer-reviewed natural experiment. Much of it among people who stayed eligible.
−3.0 pts
Coverage drop among people who speak a language other than English at home.
−2.4%
Marketplace enrollment drop among lower-income adults after the same cuts.
When it is done well, families stay enrolled
2×
More likely to enroll with in-person help. Latinos seek that help at far higher rates than White consumers.
254K
Reached in a campaign we ran with a national patient-advocacy nonprofit, explaining health policy in plain Spanish.
+37%
Higher engagement for our native, in-language content vs. standard display ads.
Why El Tiempo Latino

The trusted layer in front of the enrollment desk.

We don't run enrollment. We explain what is changing, hold attention in Spanish, and point families to their official channels. That is what El Tiempo Latino has done in the District for 35 years.

535K
Reachable Latino digital audience across the DMV.
450K
Monthly digital impressions, +8K newsletter subscribers.
~90K
Weekly print readers, 76% "very interested in health issues."
1

We have done this in health

A campaign we ran with a national patient-advocacy nonprofit reached 254,000 people across the DMV, explaining health policy in plain Spanish. The same job, applied to keeping families enrolled.

2

Protecting a built asset is efficient

D.C. already paid for the coverage. Communication protects that investment at a fraction of the cost of re-enrolling families who fall out. Creative runs through your compliance review, following CMS and carrier guidelines.

Let's start with the data.

Not "do you want to advertise." A conversation about protecting D.C.'s Latino coverage gain through the 2026 changes, and what that could look like together.

Email Andrea Chacón
andrea@tiempocompany.com