Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica/Pan American Journal of Public Health
Volume 31, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 74-80

United States-Mexico cross-border health insurance initiatives: Salud Migrante and Medicare in Mexico (Review) (Open Access)

Bustamante A.V.* , Laugesen M. , Caban M. , Rosenau P.
  • a School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • b Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
  • c Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas, Dallas, TX, United States
  • d School of Public Health, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States

Abstract

While U.S. health care reform will most likely reduce the overall number of uninsured Mexican-Americans, it does not address challenges related to health care coverage for undocumented Mexican immigrants, who will remain uninsured under the measures of the reform; documented lowincome Mexican immigrants who have not met the five-year waiting period required for Medicaid benefits; or the growing number of retired U.S. citizens living in Mexico, who lack easy access to Medicare-supported services. This article reviews two promising binational initiatives that could help address these challenges-Salud Migrante and Medicare in Mexico; discusses their prospective applications within the context of U.S. health care reform; and identifies potential challenges to their implementation (legal, political, and regulatory), as well as the possible benefits, including coverage of uninsured Mexican immigrants, and their integration into the U.S. health care system (through Salud Migrante), and access to lower-cost Medicare-supported health care for U.S. retirees in Mexico (Medicare in Mexico).

Author Keywords

emigrants and immigrants Delivery of health care Medicare Insurance, health Border health United States Mexico

Index Keywords

World Health medically uninsured economics health care policy insurance poverty health insurance human Insurance Coverage Medicare cross-border relations international cooperation retirement Mexico insurance system Insurance, Health Insurance, Major Medical health United States Humans Hispanic Emigrants and Immigrants pilot study Review emigration Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act organization and management migration legal aspect Mexico [North America] Emigration and Immigration low income population Transients and Migrants Health Care Reform patient Pilot Projects Health Services Accessibility Mexican Americans health care delivery immigrant population

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84859749452&doi=10.1590%2fS1020-49892012000100011&partnerID=40&md5=e9b67b37fb30d76fdeced1db34e41be6

DOI: 10.1590/S1020-49892012000100011
ISSN: 10204989
Cited by: 20
Original Language: English