Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 2, 2019, Pages 211-218

Health Care Access and Utilization Among U.S. Immigrants Before and After the Affordable Care Act (Article)

Bustamante A.V.* , Chen J. , McKenna R.M. , Ortega A.N.
  • a Department of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South 31-299C, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
  • b Department of Health Services Administration, University of Maryland, College Park, 3310A School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD 20742-2611, United States
  • c Department of Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Nesbitt Hall, 357, 3215 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
  • d Department of Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, 3215 Market St Nesbitt Hall, 335, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States

Abstract

We examine changes in health insurance coverage and access to and utilization of health care before and after the national implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) among the U.S. adult immigrant population. Data from the 2011–2016 National Health Interview Survey are used to compare adult respondents in 2011–2013 (before the ACA implementation) and 2014–2016 (after the ACA implementation). Multivariable logistic regression analyses are used to compare changes over time. This study shows that the ACA has closed the coverage gap that previously existed between U.S. citizens and non-citizen immigrants. We find that naturalized citizens, non-citizens with more than 5 years of U.S. residency, and non-citizens with 5 years or less of U.S. residency reduced their probability of being uninsured by 5.81, 9.13, and 8.23%, respectively, in the first 3 years of the ACA. Improvements in other measures of access and utilization were also observed. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Health care reform ACA Affordable Care Act Health insurance immigrants Access to care

Index Keywords

medically uninsured health care policy insurance health insurance Insurance Coverage human Insurance, Health United States Humans migrant Emigrants and Immigrants Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ambulatory care Office Visits Healthcare Disparities health care disparity Health Services Accessibility health care delivery
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85045111722&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-018-0741-6&partnerID=40&md5=c9ba0fc9723c72ea9a53f360ef38a8d2
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0741-6
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English