One in 4 low-income immigrant adults in California avoided public programs, likely worsening food insecurity and access to health care
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Health policy brief (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research)
- Author(s):
- Babey, Susan H., author Wolstein, Joelle, author Shimkhada, Riti, author Ponce, Ninez A., author
- Contributor(s):
- UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Los Angeles, CA : UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, March 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Services Accessibility Emigrants and Immigrants Food Insecurity Poverty Public Assistance California United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Recent changes to immigration rules have expanded the number of public programs considered when identifying immigrants who are likely to become a "public charge," or dependent on the government as their primary means of support. Policies and systems that perpetuate fear and confusion around immigration status contribute to the avoidance of public programs, which has serious implications for health and well-being. One out of 4 (25%) low-income immigrant adults in California reported avoiding public programs such as Medicaid or nutrition assistance programs out of fear that participating would negatively impact their own immigration status or that of a family member. More than one-third (37%) of immigrants who reported avoiding public programs in the past year were uninsured, compared to less than one-fifth of immigrants who did not avoid public programs (16%). In addition, more than half of those who avoided public programs in the past year were food insecure (54%), compared to just over one-third who had not avoided public programs (36%). Even groups not subject to the public charge rule reported avoiding public programs: More than one-quarter (27%) of lawful permanent residents reported avoiding public programs, even though the public charge rule does not apply to their applications for citizenship. These findings emphasize the adverse consequences that exclusionary immigration policies can have on health, and they highlight the need for accurate information from resources that people trust.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (7 pages, 1 unnumbered page))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918315985506676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918315985506676