Healthcare Coverage and Use Among Undocumented Central American Immigrant Women in Houston, Texas

We investigated the prevalence and correlates of having current healthcare coverage and of having a usual formal source of care among undocumented Central American immigrant women. Participants were recruited using respondent driven sampling. Thirty-five percent of participants had healthcare covera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of immigrant and minority health 2014-04, Vol.16 (2), p.204-210
Main Authors: Montealegre, Jane R., Selwyn, Beatrice J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
At risk populations
Barriers
Behavior
Benefits
Central America - ethnology
Cities
Clinics
Community Relations
Comparative Law
Coverage
Educational Attainment
Emergency medical care
Emigrants and Immigrants
Employment Level
Family Income
Female
Females
Health care
Health care access
Health policy
Health Services
Health Services Accessibility
Health surveys
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic people
Humans
Illegal immigrants
Immigrants
Income
Income security
Indigent care
Insurance
Insurance Coverage - statistics & numerical data
International & Foreign Law
Interviews as Topic
Marital Status
Medical research
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Money
Noncitizens
ORIGINAL PAPER
Prevalence
Private International Law
Public Health
Risk Factors
Sampling
Social Capital
Social Networks
Social support
Socioeconomic Factors
Sociology
Studies
Texas
Transportation
United States
Women
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Description
Summary:We investigated the prevalence and correlates of having current healthcare coverage and of having a usual formal source of care among undocumented Central American immigrant women. Participants were recruited using respondent driven sampling. Thirty-five percent of participants had healthcare coverage and 43 % had a usual formal source of care. Healthcare coverage was primarily through the local indigent healthcare program and most of those with a usual formal source of care received care at a public healthcare clinic. Having healthcare coverage and having a usual formal source of care were both associated with older age; having a usual formal source of care was also marginally associated with increased time of residence in the US and increased income security. The primary barriers to healthcare use were not having money or insurance, not knowing where to go, and not having transportation. Healthcare interventions may benefit from targeting young and newly arrived immigrants and addressing the structural and belief barriers that impede undocumented immigrant women’s use of healthcare services.
ISSN:1557-1912
1557-1920
DOI:10.1007/s10903-012-9754-8