Health services from Mexico constitute an important source of care for U.S. residents living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Data from The Cross-Border Utilization of Health Care Survey (n = 966) were used to estimate logit models that related acculturation, as measured by generational status, to the use of medication, physician, dental, and inpatient services from Mexico by U.S. residents in the Texas border region. Relative to first-generation Mexican immigrants, later-generation Mexican-Americans were progressively less likely to go to Mexico for health services. This finding holds with or without adjusting for the effects of selected demographic and socioeconomic variables. Addressing unmet needs in medical care in the southwestern U.S. border area should go beyond a simple expansion of health insurance coverage- it is also important to deliver health services that are sensitive to generational differences within the population in terms of linguistic and cultural barriers to health care access. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.

U.S.-mexico border Generational status Cross-border health care utilization Acculturation

health care survey Health Care Surveys economics health insurance human middle aged statistics health service Aged Mexico Insurance, Health United States Humans Hispanic male Emigrants and Immigrants Acculturation Socioeconomic Factors female socioeconomics cultural factor health services Article adult migration medical tourism Utilization Review Mexican Americans Texas