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Do restrictive omnibus immigration laws reduce enrollment in public health insurance by Latino citizen children? A comparative interrupted time series study

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  • Allen, Chenoa D.
  • McNeely, Clea A.

Abstract

In the United States, there is concern that recent state laws restricting undocumented immigrants' rights could threaten access to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for citizen children of immigrant parents. Of particular concern are omnibus immigration laws, state laws that include multiple provisions increasing immigration enforcement and restricting rights for undocumented immigrants. These laws could limit Medicaid/CHIP access for citizen children in immigrant families by creating misinformation about their eligibility and fostering fear and mistrust of government among immigrant parents. This study uses nationally-representative data from the National Health Interview Survey (2005–2014; n = 70,187) and comparative interrupted time series methods to assess whether passage of state omnibus immigration laws reduced access to Medicaid/CHIP for US citizen Latino children. We found that law passage did not reduce enrollment for children with noncitizen parents and actually resulted in temporary increases in coverage among Latino children with at least one citizen parent. These findings are surprising in light of prior research. We offer potential explanations for this finding and conclude with a call for future research to be expanded in three ways: 1) examine whether policy effects vary for children of undocumented parents, compared to children whose noncitizen parents are legally present; 2) examine the joint effects of immigration-related policies at different levels, from the city or county to the state to the federal; and 3) draw on the large social movements and political mobilization literature that describes when and how Latinos and immigrants push back against restrictive immigration laws.

Suggested Citation

  • Allen, Chenoa D. & McNeely, Clea A., 2017. "Do restrictive omnibus immigration laws reduce enrollment in public health insurance by Latino citizen children? A comparative interrupted time series study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 19-29.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:191:y:2017:i:c:p:19-29
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.039
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    2. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Brandyn Churchill & Yang Song, 2022. "Immigration Enforcement and Infant Health," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(3), pages 323-358.
    3. Tianyuan Luo & Genti Kostandini, 2023. "Omnibus or Ominous immigration laws? Immigration policy and mental health of the Hispanic population," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 90-106, January.
    4. Molly Dondero & Claire E. Altman, 2022. "State-Level Immigrant Policy Climates and Health Care Among U.S. Children of Immigrants," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2683-2708, December.
    5. Tianyuan Luo & Cesar L. Escalante, 2021. "Stringent immigration enforcement and the mental health and health‐risk behaviors of Hispanic adolescent students in Arizona," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 86-103, January.
    6. Padilla, Tatiana & Reyes, Adriana, 2024. "Hitting closer to home: State policies’ impacts on health by race and legal status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    7. Xiaoning Huang & Neeraj Kaushal & Julia Shu-Huah Wang, 2020. "What Explains the Gap in Welfare Use among Immigrants and Natives?," NBER Working Papers 27811, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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