Abstract
The objective of this study is to identify differences in healthcare access and utilization among Mexican immigrants by documentation
status. Cross-sectional survey data are analyzed to identify differences in healthcare access and utilization across Mexican
immigrant categories. Multivariable logistic regression and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition are used to parse out differences
into observed and unobserved components. Mexican immigrants ages 18 and above who are immigrants of California households
and responded to the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (2,600 documented and 1,038 undocumented immigrants). Undocumented
immigrants from Mexico are 27% less likely to have a doctor visit in the previous year and 35% less likely to have a usual
source of care compared to documented Mexican immigrants after controlling for confounding variables. Approximately 88% of
these disparities can be attributed to predisposing, enabling and need determinants in our model. The remaining disparities
are attributed to unobserved heterogeneity. This study shows that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are much less likely
to have a physician visit in the previous year and a usual source of care compared to documented immigrants from Mexico. The
recently approved Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will not reduce these disparities unless undocumented immigrants
are granted some form of legal status.
status. Cross-sectional survey data are analyzed to identify differences in healthcare access and utilization across Mexican
immigrant categories. Multivariable logistic regression and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition are used to parse out differences
into observed and unobserved components. Mexican immigrants ages 18 and above who are immigrants of California households
and responded to the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (2,600 documented and 1,038 undocumented immigrants). Undocumented
immigrants from Mexico are 27% less likely to have a doctor visit in the previous year and 35% less likely to have a usual
source of care compared to documented Mexican immigrants after controlling for confounding variables. Approximately 88% of
these disparities can be attributed to predisposing, enabling and need determinants in our model. The remaining disparities
are attributed to unobserved heterogeneity. This study shows that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are much less likely
to have a physician visit in the previous year and a usual source of care compared to documented immigrants from Mexico. The
recently approved Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will not reduce these disparities unless undocumented immigrants
are granted some form of legal status.
- Content Type Journal Article
- DOI 10.1007/s10903-010-9406-9
- Authors
- Arturo Vargas Bustamante, Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South Room 31-299C, P.O. Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
- Hai Fang, Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, 13001 East 17th Avenue, Room E3312, Campus Box B119, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
- Jeremiah Garza, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Olivia Carter-Pokras, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland College Park, 2234G SPH Bldg, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Steven P. Wallace, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA School of Public Health, 10960 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1550, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
- John A. Rizzo, Preventive Medicine and Economics, Department of Economics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Alexander N. Ortega, Health Services and Psychiatry & Bio-behavioral Sciences, UCLA, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South Room 31-299A, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Journal Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
- Online ISSN 1557-1920
- Print ISSN 1557-1912