The Mexican Immigrant Insurance Gap
A huge number of Mexican immigrants in California and elsewhere in the country lack health insurance and the related access to healthcare services, putting a huge strain on that ethnic group as it continues to forge a stronghold in the United States.
Indeed, the rate of uninsured among Mexicans in the U.S. is far higher than immigrants from other portions of Central and South America. It tops 70% among those working the most menial and most injury-prone jobs, such as in agriculture, according to a new report jointly published by researchers at UCLA, UC Berkeley and the Mexican government.
The 71-page report concluded that Mexicans comprise 28% of all immigrants in the U.S. And while they represent only 4% of the U.S. population, they represent 13% of all U.S. residents who lack insurance.
“Mexican immigrants are the most vulnerable group in terms of access to health insurance, placing them in a position of high risk and vulnerability, since uninsurance means that they are likely to face high financial barriers to needed healthcare when they are injured or become seriously ill,” the report concluded. “Lack of access to preventive and curative health services, coupled with the change in lifestyle and working conditions of immigrants, negatively impacts their physical and emotional health.”
Altogether, 53.5% of Mexicans in the U.S. lack health insurance, including 44.4% of all children. That compares to 47.5% of Central American immigrants as a whole and less than 11% of all white non-Latinos.
The number of uninsured Mexicans in the U.S. doubled from 3.3 million in the mid-1990s to 6.4 million today, although the Great Recession has leveled off that number in recent years. However, more than 63% of recent immigrants from Mexico lack insurance coverage. Yet more than half of those immigrants who have been in the country for 10 years or more lack insurance.
Even those Mexican immigrants who have become naturalized U.S. citizens have a high level of uninsured, with 34.5% of that population lacking coverage.
Those numbers are not expected to moderate even with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Most undocumented workers are barred from participating in Medicaid and other public insurance programs, a practice that will continue under the ACA.
“This provision will impact Mexican immigrants more than any other immigrant group,” the report said.
The report attributed the higher rates of uninsured among Mexican immigrants due to their being more systematically excluded from many facets of U.S. society compared to other ethnic groups. Undocumented workers are mostly barred from enrolling in Medicaid or Medi-Cal, California's program
As a result, the report observed that “Mexican-born immigrants benefit least from the public health programs designed to support the low-income population.” Nearly 38% of Mexican immigrants lack a usual source of care, more than 10 percentage points higher than those who migrated from other Central American nations. Of those who do have a source of care, more than half use community clinics, as opposed to private physicians or group practices.
The report advocated for comprehensive immigration reform that would allow those immigrants currently excluded from the health system to start the process that would allow them to be eligible for benefits. Access to affordable healthcare will help them to lead healthier, more productive lives, and this will have a positive impact on American society,” the report said.
