This paper examines first-generation Korean immigrants’ barriers to healthcare in the US and their strategies for coping with these issues by analyzing survey data from 507 Korean immigrants and in-depth interviews with 120 Korean immigrants in the New York-New Jersey area. It reports that more than half of Korean immigrants have barriers to healthcare in the US, with the language barrier being the most frequent response, followed by having no health insurance. Korean immigrants are not passive, but rather active entities who display coping strategies for these barriers, such as seeing co-ethnic doctors in the US, seeking Hanbang (traditional Korean medicine) in the US, and taking medical tours to the home country. However, their coping strategies are far removed from formal US healthcare as their behaviors are still restricted to the informal healthcare within the ethnic community or home country. This study methodologically and theoretically contributes to the literature on immigrants’ healthcare behaviors by using a mixed-method approach and developing a specific framework for one particular immigrant group. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Medical tourism New York-New Jersey Korean community Mixed-method approach Korean immigrants Barriers to healthcare utilization Hanbang Co-ethnic doctors United States

New Jersey communication barrier Communication Barriers immigrant medically uninsured health insurance human middle aged statistics and numerical data coping behavior Aged Adaptation, Psychological language ethnology qualitative research interview Surveys and Questionnaires United States Humans psychology New York traditional medicine coping strategy Asian Americans male Asian American female Korean medicine questionnaire theoretical model standards research method health care health care utilization adult human experiment medical tourism patient attitude Asian immigrant ethnicity Patient Acceptance of Health Care Health Services Accessibility New York [United States] health care delivery