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Out of Sight and Uninsured: Access to Healthcare Among US-Born Minors in Mexico

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Abstract

To examine health insurance coverage among the 550,000 U.S.-born minors living in Mexico. Representative data from Mexico’s 2018 National Survey of Demographic Dynamics was used to describe health coverage among persons aged 0–17 living in Mexico (N = 78,370). Multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to identify the association between birthplace (Mexico versus the United States) and health insurance coverage in Mexico. 39% of U.S-born minors living in Mexico in 2018 lacked health insurance compared to just 13% of Mexican-born minors. Logistic regression found that, net of potential confounders, being born in the United States was associated with 87% lower odds of being insured among minors in Mexico. U.S.-born minors disproportionately rely on private insurance programs and are particularly likely to be uninsured in the first year back from the United States. Special attention is needed to ensure access to care among U.S.-born minors in Mexico.

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Funding

Funding was supported by Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (Grant No. 1808888) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (US) (Grant No. P2CHD047879).

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  1. Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Joshua T. Wassink

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  1. Joshua T. Wassink
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Correspondence to Joshua T. Wassink.

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Wassink, J.T. Out of Sight and Uninsured: Access to Healthcare Among US-Born Minors in Mexico. J Immigrant Minority Health 22, 448–455 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-00997-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-00997-5

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