Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 20, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 416-421

A Universal Health Care System? Unmet Need for Medical Care Among Regular and Irregular Immigrants in Italy (Article)

Busetta A.* , Cetorelli V. , Wilson B.
  • a Department of Economics, Business and Statistics (SEAS), University of Palermo, Viale delle scienze, ed. 13, Palermo, 90128, Italy
  • b Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • c Department of Methodology, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom, Stockholm University Demography Unit (SUDA), Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

Italy has a universal health care system that covers, in principle, the whole resident population, irrespective of citizenship and legal status. This study calculates the prevalence of unmet need for medical care among Italian citizens, regular and irregular immigrants and estimates logistic regression models to assess whether differences by citizenship and legal status hold true once adjusting for potential confounders. The analysis is based on two Surveys on Income and Living Conditions of Italian households and households with foreigners. Controlling for various factors, the odds of experiencing unmet need for medical care are 27% higher for regular immigrants than for Italian citizens and 59% higher for irregular immigrants. The gaps by citizenship and legal status are even more striking among those with chronic illnesses. These results reveal the high vulnerability of immigrants in Italy and the need to develop more effective policies to achieve health care access for all residents. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Health care access immigrants Italy Unmet need Legal status

Index Keywords

social capital poverty human statistics and numerical data State Medicine health status chronic disease national health service Undocumented Immigrants Humans migrant undocumented immigrant Emigrants and Immigrants Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics organization and management age sex factor Sex Factors Age Factors Italy Health Services Accessibility health care delivery
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85015238026&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-017-0566-8&partnerID=40&md5=00894d8a21f3b5102b202aa888a16723
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-017-0566-8
ISSN: 15571912
Original Language: English