Nativity and citizenship status affect Latinos’ health insurance coverage under the ACA

Bibliographic Data

ID7843766
AuthorsG R Sanchez (0000-0002-3234-1147, University of New Mexico, corresponding author), Edward D Vargas (0000-0002-3915-0634, University of Wisconsin–Madison), Melina Juarez (0000-0001-9012-1145, University of New Mexico), Melina D Juarez, Barbara Gomez-Aguinaga (0000-0002-6669-9788, University of New Mexico), Francisco I Pedraza (0000-0002-4784-8370, University of California, Riverside)
Year2017
Volume43
Issue12
Pages2037-2054
Publication date2017-09-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2017.1323450
OpenAlexW2626290930
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited43

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to increase health insurance access for the over 47 million uninsured people in the U.S.A., among whom ethnoracial minorities had the highest uninsured rates before the ACA. Studies have shown that Latinos have had the greatest improvements in health coverage under the ACA, but many may be at a significant disadvantage, specifically due to their nativity and immigration status, as the ACA explicitly excludes unauthorised immigrants from most of its provisions. Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey, a nationally representative sample of Latinos (n = 1493), we find that variation in health insurance access among Latinos can be traced to immigration status. This study finds no differences among U.S.-born versus foreign-born Latinos in the likelihood of being uninsured in 2015. However, among foreign-born Latinos, unauthorised immigrants are five times more likely than naturalised citizens to be uninsured and less likely to visit a primary care provider or clinic, even after controlling for other factors including language, income and education

Citizenship · Demographic economics · Disadvantage · Economics · Foreign born · Health care · Health insurance · Immigration · Native-Born · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Demography · Global Health Workforce Issues · Healthcare Policy and Management · Law · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma