Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 16, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 179-188

Redressing the limitations of the affordable care act for Mexican immigrants through bi-national health insurance: A willingness to pay study in Los Angeles (Article)

González Block M.A. , Vargas Bustamante A.* , De La Sierra L.A. , Martínez Cardoso A.
  • a Health Systems Research Center, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico, Av. Universidad no. 655, Col. Santa-Maria Ahuacatitlan Cuernavaca, Morelos CP 62100, Mexico
  • b Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
  • c Population Health Research Center, Public Health Institute of Mexico, Av. Universidad no. 655, Col. Santa-Maria Ahuacatitlan Cuernavaca Morelos, CP 62100, Mexico
  • d Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, United States

Abstract

The 12.4 million Mexican migrants in the United States (US) face considerable barriers to access health care, with 45 % of them being uninsured. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not address lack of insurance for some immigrants, and the excluded groups are a large proportion of the Mexican-American community. To redress this, innovative forms of health insurance coverage have to be explored. This study analyses factors associated with willingness to pay for cross-border, bi-national health insurance (BHI) among Mexican immigrants in the US. Surveys were administered to 1,335 Mexican migrants in the Mexican Consulate of Los Angeles to assess their health status, healthcare utilization, and willingness to purchase BHI. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of willingness to pay for BHI. Having a job, not having health insurance in the US, and relatives in Mexico attending public health services were significant predictors of willingness to pay for BHI. In addition, individuals identified quality as the most important factor when considering BHI. In spite of the interest for BHI among 54 % of the sampled population, our study concludes that this type of coverage is unlikely to solve access to care challenges due to ACA eligibility among different Mexican immigrant populations. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Author Keywords

immigrants Health insurance Willingness to pay Undocumented immigrants Health reform Mexico Access to care

Index Keywords

medically uninsured economics health care policy insurance health insurance human Insurance Coverage statistics and numerical data Financing, Personal ethnology Mexico Insurance, Health financial management United States Humans migrant male Emigrants and Immigrants female Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act questionnaire Questionnaires adult Los Angeles Health Services Accessibility health care delivery
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896401807&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-012-9712-5&partnerID=40&md5=f4db5cc7a59d28e5c110853fcceaccba
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-012-9712-5
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 13
Original Language: English