Summary
Does lack of documentation keep Mexican immigrants from seeing the doctor? Possibly. In this article, the authors analyze data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to identify differences in health care access and utilization among adult Mexican immigrants by documentation status (2,600 documented and 1,038 undocumented immigrants).
Findings: Authors found that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are 27% less likely to have had a doctor visit in the previous year and 35% less likely to have a usual source of care compared to documented Mexican immigrants, after controlling for confounding variables. The recently approved Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will not reduce these disparities unless undocumented immigrants are granted some form of legal status.
