International Journal of Health Services
Volume 48, Issue 4, 2018, Pages 601-621

Medical Expenditures on and by Immigrant Populations in the United States: A Systematic Review (Review)

Flavin L.* , Zallman L. , McCormick D. , Wesley Boyd J.
  • a Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
  • b Institute for Community Health and Department of Psychiatry, CHA, Malden, MA, United States, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
  • c Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, United States
  • d Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, United States, Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

In health care policy debates, discussion centers around the often-misperceived costs of providing medical care to immigrants. This review seeks to compare health care expenditures of U.S. immigrants to those of U.S.-born individuals and evaluate the role which immigrants play in the rising cost of health care. We systematically examined all post-2000, peer-reviewed studies in PubMed related to health care expenditures by immigrants written in English in the United States. The reviewers extracted data independently using a standardized approach. Immigrants’ overall expenditures were one-half to two-thirds those of U.S.-born individuals, across all assessed age groups, regardless of immigration status. Per capita expenditures from private and public insurance sources were lower for immigrants, particularly expenditures for undocumented immigrants. Immigrant individuals made larger out-of-pocket health care payments compared to U.S.-born individuals. Overall, immigrants almost certainly paid more toward medical expenses than they withdrew, providing a low-risk pool that subsidized the public and private health insurance markets. We conclude that insurance and medical care should be made more available to immigrants rather than less so. © The Author(s) 2018.

Author Keywords

per capita expenditures medical expenditures immigrant expenditures Immigrant health out of pocket expenditures Health care policy

Index Keywords

literature review health care policy cost analysis health insurance immigration human Medline standardization groups by age private health insurance United States health care cost health expenditure undocumented immigrant Humans male female Health Expenditures Article health care adult migration subsidy system market Emigration and Immigration Health Policy systematic review medical care Healthcare Disparities health care disparity immigrant population
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85052598040&doi=10.1177%2f0020731418791963&partnerID=40&md5=5105b5147b7c200dfb1a3c6747c73159
DOI: 10.1177/0020731418791963
ISSN: 00207314
Cited by: 9
Original Language: English