29
Accordingtothemost recentfigures forMexican
immigrants, in 2013 four out of ten children, almost
twooutofevery threeyoungpeopleages18 to29, six
outof tenadultsages30 to44andhalf of adultsages
45 to 64 lacked health insurance. The proportion of
CentralAmericanswithouthealth insurancecoverage is
only lower among childrenandadolescents (22%) and
adults ages 45 to 64 (41%). BothMexican and Cen-
tral American immigrants’ rates aremore than double
thatofother immigrantsandhigher than thoseofnon-
HispanicUS-bornwhitesandAfricanAmericans.More-
over, 10%ofMexicansover age65donot havehealth
insurance, higher than thefigure recorded for other im-
migrant groupsandnatives (Figure15).Without insur-
ance they are less likely to seek timely and adequate
care for health problems such as the chronic illnesses
that aremost commonduring that stageof life.
Between 2004 and 2013, the lack of health
insurance coverage decreased among young age
groups in the population, with the exception of non-
Hispanic US-born whites ages 18 to 29. The main
changes were recorded among Mexican immigrant
children (approximately 13 percentage points less)
andCentral Americans (18percentage points less).
In contrast, the prevailing trend among the
adult populations is a decrease in the availability of
health insurance, in particular among Central Ame-
ricans ages 30 to 44 (12 percentage points) and
Mexicans ages 45 to 64 (8 percentage points). Fi-
nally, among older adults there has been a slight de-
crease in thenumber ofCentral American immigrants
without health insurance (almost seven percentage
points) (Figure15).
Lackof health insurance coverage is
increasingamongMexican immigrants
withoutAmerican citizenship
Citizenship is an important indicator of social inte-
gration among immigrant populations and is related
to labor and social rights, including health insurance.
Among the three groups of immigrants studied, the
proportionof citizenswithout coverage is significantly
lower than that of non-citizens, both in 2004 and
2013. However, even with similar citizenship status,
immigrants fromMexico are more likely to lack pro-
tection than those from Central America and other
regions (32%, 22% and 15%, respectively), which is
closely linked to theirgreater concentration inemploy-
ment thatprovides limitedornoemploymentbenefits.
The situation of Mexican and Central Ameri-
can immigrants without citizenship, many of whom
are undocumented and working in low-wage or un-
skilled jobs without access to public programs (phs,
2009), is more problematic. Indeed, approximately
six out of ten noncitizens do not have health insur-
ance, a figure that remained unchanged between
2004 and2013 (Figure 16).
chapter i i •
access to health insurance and service use
