Background:This paper provides statewide estimates on health care access and utilization patterns and physical and behavioral health by citizenship and documentation status among Latinos in California.Methods:This study used data from the 2011–2015 California Health Interview Survey to examine health care access and utilization and physical and behavioral health among a representative sample of all nonelderly Latino and US-born non-Latino white adults (N=51,386). Multivariable regressions estimated the associations between the dependent measures and citizenship/documentation status among Latinos (US-born, naturalized citizen, green card holder, and undocumented).Results:Adjusted results from multivariable analyses observed worse access and utilization patterns among immigrant Latinos compared with US-born Latinos, with undocumented immigrants using significantly less health care. Undocumented Latinos had lower odds of self-reporting excellent/very good health status compared with US-born Latinos, despite them having lower odds of having several physical and behavioral health outcomes (overweight/obesity, physician-diagnosed hypertension, asthma, self-reported psychological distress, and need for behavioral health services). Among those reporting a need for behavioral health services, access was also worse for undocumented Latinos when compared with US-born Latinos.Conclusions:Patterns of poor health care access and utilization and better physical and behavioral health are observed across the continuum of documentation status, with undocumented immigrants having the worst access and utilization patterns and less disease. Despite fewer reported diagnoses and better mental health, undocumented Latinos reported poorer health status than their US-born counterparts.

We examined changes in health insurance coverage and access to and use of health care among adult (ages 18-64) Latinos in the US before (2007-13) and after (2014-16) implementation of the main provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Data from the California Health Interview Survey were used to compare respondents in the two periods. We used multivariable and decomposition regression analyses to investigate the role of documentation status in access disparities between Mexicans and other Latinos in California. Our findings show that after the implementation of these provisions in California, insurance coverage increased for US- and foreign-born Latinos, including undocumented Latinos. Our decomposition analyses show that after implementation, disparities between Mexicans and other Latinos declined with respect to having coverage and a usual source of care. Without the implementation of these provisions in 2014, these disparities would have been 5.76 percent and 0.31 percent larger, respectively. In contrast, legal documentation status was positively associated with disparities between Mexicans and other Latinos in having coverage and physician visits. If Mexican Latinos had had the same share of undocumented immigrants as other Latinos, disparities in health insurance coverage would have declined by 24.17 percent.

Despite ACA-related gains in insurance coverage, those with on-exchange and off-exchange individual private insurance plans and Medicaid encounter more barriers to care than those with employer-based insurance.

We examine changes in health insurance coverage and access to and utilization of health care before and after the national implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) among the U.S. adult immigrant population. Data from the 2011-2016 National Health Interview Survey are used to compare adult respondents in 2011-2013 (before the ACA implementation) and 2014-2016 (after the ACA implementation). Multivariable logistic regression analyses are used to compare changes over time. This study shows that the ACA has closed the coverage gap that previously existed between U.S. citizens and non-citizen immigrants. We find that naturalized citizens, non-citizens with more than 5 years of U.S. residency, and non-citizens with 5 years or less of U.S. residency reduced their probability of being uninsured by 5.81, 9.13, and 8.23%, respectively, in the first 3 years of the ACA. Improvements in other measures of access and utilization were also observed.

Objectives: We examined changes in health care access and utilization associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for different Asian American subgroups relative to non-Latino whites (whites). Research Design: Using 2003–2017 California Health Interview Survey data, we examined changes in 4 health care access measures and 2 utilization measures among whites and 7 Asian American subgroups. We estimated the unadjusted and adjusted percentage point changes on the absolute scale from the pre-ACA to post-ACA periods. Adjusted estimates were obtained from multivariable logistic regression models that controlled for predisposing, enabling, and need factors. We also estimated the pre-ACA to post-ACA changes between whites and Asian American subgroups using a difference-in-difference approach. Results: After the ACA was implemented, uninsurance decreased among all Asian American subgroups, but improvements in disparities relative to whites in these measures were limited. In particular, Koreans had the largest absolute reduction in uninsurance (−16.8 percentage points) and were the only subgroup with a significant reduction in terms of disparities relative to whites (−10.1 percentage points). However, little or no improvement was observed in the other 3 access measures (having a usual source of care, delayed medical care in past year, or delayed prescription drug use in past year) and 2 utilization measures (having a physician visit or emergency department visit in past year). Conclusions: Despite coverage gains among Asian American subgroups, especially Koreans, disparities in access and utilization persisted across all Asian American subgroups.