Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Mar 2012
Undocumented immigrants and their use of medical services in Orange County, California.
Does an undocumented immigration status predict the use of medical services? To explore this question, this paper examines medical care utilization of undocumented Latino immigrants compared to Latino legal immigrants and citizens, and non-Latino whites in Orange County, California. Data were collected through a random sample telephone survey of 805 Latinos and 396 non-Hispanic whites between January 4 and January 30, 2006. ⋯ Predictors of use of medical services are found to include undocumented immigration status, medical insurance, education, and gender. Undocumented Latinos were found to use medical services less than legal immigrants and citizens, and to rely more on clinic-based care when they do seek medical services.
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Social science & medicine · Mar 2012
Retracted PublicationDeservingness to state health services for South-South migrants: a preliminary study of Costa Rican providers' views.
Health services for undocumented migrants highlight the complex politics of the "right to health". South-South migrants, an emerging focus of migration scholarship, compose an estimated 40 percent of the world's 200 million international migrants. In Costa Rica, internationally renowned for its public health achievements, undocumented Nicaraguan migrants number between 8 and 16 percent of the population. ⋯ Overall their views on the deservingness of health services for undocumented migrants reflected a utilitarian approach. Specifically, their talk reflected: (1) the limits to state responsibility for ensuring the health of individuals not pertaining to the nation; and (2) a concern for the threats posed to the health of Costa Rican nationals. Costa Rican providers' perceptions on health services for migrants offer partial insight for the development of future migrant health policies in receiving countries of the global economic South.