Reducing Disparities in Health Coverage for Legal Immigrant Children and Pregnant Women

Publication Date: April 2007

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Leighton Ku

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Maternal health; Health insurance; International migration; Economic projections

Type: Report

Abstract:

The percentage of low-income immigrant children who lack health coverage has climbed since 1996, when federal legislation restricted the eligibility of legal immigrants for Medicaid and SCHIP during their first five years in the United States . The disparities in health insurance coverage between citizen and immigrant children, already large a decade ago, have grown significantly larger. Today, almost half of low-income immigrant children are uninsured. The widening gaps in health coverage have made it harder for immigrant children to secure medical care and have jeopardized their health. These problems are compounded by other hardships, such as food insecurity, that children in immigrant families often face.