Navigating health care

Brokerage and access for undocumented Latino immigrants under the 2010 Affordable Care Act

Bibliographic Data

ID7843637
AuthorsLaura López-Sanders (0000-0002-0328-8236, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume43
Issue12
Pages2072-2088
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.2017.1323452
OpenAlexW2625419519
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited30

Brokerage is a prominent mechanism that explains access for Latino immigrants to many American institutions. However, few studies examine the dual nature of brokerage in answering questions on access to health care for undocumented Latino immigrants. The growing importance of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and ethnic navigators connecting immigrants to health care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act calls attention to the duality of brokers and its role in access. The study draws from 44 in-depth interviews with providers, clinic directors, navigators, and immigrant patients and two years of fieldwork in FQHCs in California’s San Francisco Bay Area (2011–2013). Results show that brokers enable access through coaching and myth-busting but they also hinder it through scrutiny and bureaucratic filtering. The widespread dependence on brokerage, I argue, leads to ersatz brokerage, such as when providers navigate the health-care system for the undocumented without the appropriate linguistic resources or coordination. Furthermore, the study shows that the duality in brokerage generates misinformation, churning, and alienation. Understanding the relational processes that both include and exclude vulnerable populations from needed services enhances theories of immigrant integration and can help design more efficient policies and address inequalities related to documentation status

Business · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Health care · Health insurance · Immigration · Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act · Political science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Nursing

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