Health Affairs · 2005 · 138 citations · 2 references
Public HealthDemographyInsuranceHealth InsurancePopulation HealthSocial Determinants Of HealthEthnicity In HealthImmigrant HealthInsurance CoverageMigrant HealthPopulation Health StatusUniversal Health CoverageCoverageImmigrant Health Care AccessImmigrant Health DisparitiesInsurance Coverage DisparitiesSocioeconomic DisadvantageUndocumented Immigrant HealthUndocumented PopulationsUninsured Rates
The foreign-born represent a disproportionate share of nonelderly U.S. adults without health insurance. Using data from Los Angeles County, we find that most of the insurance disparities between the foreign-born and native-born can be explained by traditional socioeconomic factors. Undocumented immigrants, however, have lower rates of coverage-both private and public-even after a wide array of factors are controlled for. Applying Los Angeles County rates to the U.S. population implies that undocumented immigrants account for one-third of the total increase in the number of uninsured adults in the United States between 1980 and 2000.
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