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The Effect of Parental Immigration Authorization on Health Insurance Coverage for Migrant Latino Children

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Abstract

Objective: To examine if immigration authorization among parents is associated with health insurance coverage for migrant Latino children. Data Source: A cross-sectional household survey of 300 migrant families for which one child, aged <13 years, was randomly selected. Results: Most children lacked insurance (73%) and had unauthorized parents (77%). Having an authorized parent or parental stay of more than 5 years in the US were each positively associated with children’s health insurance coverage [OR: 4.9; 95% CI: (2.7–8.7) and [OR = 6.7; 95% CI: (3.8–12.0), respectively]. The effect of parental authorization did not persist in multivariable logistic regression analysis; however, more than 5 years of parental stay in the US remained associated with children’s insurance coverage [OR = 4.8; 95% CI (1.8–12.2)], regardless of parental authorization. Conclusion: Increased parental familiarity with US health and/or social services agencies, rather than parental authorization status, is important to obtaining health insurance for migrant children. Efforts to insure eligible migrant children should focus on recently arrived families.

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Acknowledgements

We very gratefully acknowledge the support of The Office of Research, Demonstrations, and Rural Health Development of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. I also am very grateful to and extend my sincerest thank you to my co-authors, all of whom have generously and diligently provided input into the analysis and interpretation of these data, and without whom these data would not have been successfully obtained.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal and Child Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, 402A Rosenau Hall, CB#7445, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7445, USA

    Andrea C. Weathers

  2. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Cynthia S. Minkovitz

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Marie Diener-West

  4. University of Toronto & Centre for Research on Inner City Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada

    Patricia O’Campo

Authors
  1. Andrea C. Weathers
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  2. Cynthia S. Minkovitz
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  3. Marie Diener-West
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  4. Patricia O’Campo
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Correspondence to Andrea C. Weathers.

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Weathers, A.C., Minkovitz, C.S., Diener-West, M. et al. The Effect of Parental Immigration Authorization on Health Insurance Coverage for Migrant Latino Children. J Immigrant Minority Health 10, 247–254 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9072-8

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