IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v24y2023i2d10.1007_s12134-022-00972-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to Healthcare Access for Immigrants in Costa Rica and Uruguay

Author

Listed:
  • Koen Voorend

    (University of Costa Rica)

  • Daniel Alvarado

    (University of Costa Rica)

Abstract

Access to public health has been, is, and will be a necessary right for any person in the world, motivating the proposal of universalist approaches as the best way to provide this service. However, we know that universalism is limited, at best, when it concerns immigrants. In this article, we focus on Costa Rica’s and Uruguay’s health systems, generally acknowledged as Latin America’s most universal, to argue that there are important barriers that limit immigrants’ access to public health insurance and health care. Applying a model based on the work by Niedzwiecki and Voorend (2019) that allows us to disaggregate the barriers to access into legal, institutional, de facto, and agency barriers, our analysis shows that migration and social policy interact to create barriers of different magnitudes, often conditioning healthcare access on migratory status, formal employment, and/or purchasing power. These limitations to universal social protection create important vulnerabilities, not only for the immigrants involved, but also for the health systems, and therefore for public health, highlighting the limitations of universalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Koen Voorend & Daniel Alvarado, 2023. "Barriers to Healthcare Access for Immigrants in Costa Rica and Uruguay," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 747-771, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:24:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-022-00972-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-022-00972-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-022-00972-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-022-00972-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cecchini, Simone & Filgueira, Fernando & Robles, Claudia, 2014. "Social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: a comparative view," Políticas Sociales 37340, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. Nannestad, Peter, 2007. "Immigration and welfare states: A survey of 15 years of research," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 512-532, June.
    3. Simandan, Dragos, 2018. "Rethinking the health consequences of social class and social mobility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 258-261.
    4. Mendoza, Sonia & Armbrister, Adria N. & Abraído-Lanza, Ana F., 2018. "Are you better off? Perceptions of social mobility and satisfaction with care among Latina immigrants in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 54-60.
    5. Thomas Faist, 2017. "Transnational social protection in Europe: a social inequality perspective," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 20-32, January.
    6. Erica Dobbs & Peggy Levitt, 2017. "The missing link? The role of sub-national governance in transnational social protections," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 47-63, January.
    7. Caitlin E. Fouratt, 2014. "“Those who come to do harm”: The Framings of Immigration Problems in Costa Rican Immigration Law," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 144-180, March.
    8. Unger, J.-P. & De Paepe, P. & Buitrón, R. & Soors, W., 2008. "Costa Rica: Achievements of a heterodox health policy," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(4), pages 636-643.
    9. Peggy Levitt & Jocelyn Viterna & Armin Mueller & Charlotte Lloyd, 2017. "Transnational social protection: setting the agenda," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 2-19, January.
    10. Voorend, Koen & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sura-Fonseca, Rebeca, 2021. "Migrants and access to health care in Costa Rica," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    11. Andrew M. Fischer, 2011. "Reconceiving social exclusion," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 14611, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Elizondo, Hazel & Pacheco, José Francisco & Pacheco, Juan Carlos, 2020. "El sistema de pensiones en Costa Rica: institucionalidad, gasto público y sostenibilidad financiera," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 45906, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    13. Shiri Noy & Koen Voorend, 2016. "Social Rights and Migrant Realities: Migration Policy Reform and Migrants’ Access to Health Care in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Chile," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 605-629, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elisabeth Scheibelhofer & Clara Holzinger, 2018. "‘Damn It, I Am a Miserable Eastern European in the Eyes of the Administrator’: EU Migrants’ Experiences with (Transnational) Social Security," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 201-209.
    2. Gugushvili, Alexi & Zelinska, Olga & Präg, Patrick & Bulczak, Grzegorz, 2022. "Does perceived social mobility affect health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    3. Elisabeth Scheibelhofer, 2022. "Migrants’ Experiences With Limited Access to Social Protection in a Framework of EU Post‐National Policies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 164-173.
    4. Shiri Noy & Koen Voorend, 2016. "Social Rights and Migrant Realities: Migration Policy Reform and Migrants’ Access to Health Care in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Chile," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 605-629, May.
    5. Voorend, Koen & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sura-Fonseca, Rebeca, 2021. "Migrants and access to health care in Costa Rica," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Elisabeth Scheibelhofer, 2022. "Transnational Social Protection: Inclusion for Whom? Theoretical Reflections and Migrant Experiences," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 161-163.
    7. Simonetta Longhi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2010. "Meta-Analyses of Labour-Market Impacts of Immigration: Key Conclusions and Policy Implications," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(5), pages 819-833, October.
    8. Azarnert, Leonid V., 2010. "Immigration, fertility, and human capital: A model of economic decline of the West," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 431-440, December.
    9. Martin Kahanec & Martin Guzi, 2023. "Welfare Migration," Discussion Papers 65, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI).
    10. Magris, Francesco & Russo, Giuseppe, 2016. "Fiscal Revenues and Commitment in Immigration Amnesties," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 75-90.
    11. Benjamin Elsner & Jeff Concannon, 2020. "Immigration and Redistribution," Working Papers 202024, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    12. -, 2015. "Towards universal social protection: Latin American pathways and policy tools," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 39484 edited by Eclac, May.
    13. Filgueira, Fernando & Martínez, Rodrigo, 2015. "Financing and investment for social protection," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 39694, May.
    14. Azarnert, Leonid V., 2018. "Refugee resettlement, redistribution and growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 89-98.
    15. Otto, Alkis Henri & Steinhardt, Max Friedrich, 2014. "Immigration and election outcomes — Evidence from city districts in Hamburg," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 67-79.
    16. Timothy K.M. Beatty & Dag Einar Sommervoll, 2008. "Discrimination in Europe. Evidence from the Rental Market," Discussion Papers 547, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    17. Eloy López-Meneses & Esteban Vázquez-Cano & Mariana-Daniela González-Zamar & Emilio Abad-Segura, 2020. "Socioeconomic Effects in Cyberbullying: Global Research Trends in the Educational Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-31, June.
    18. Gaston, Noel & Rajaguru, Gulasekaran, 2013. "International migration and the welfare state revisited," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 90-101.
    19. Bettin, Giulia & Sacchi, Agnese, 2020. "Health spending in Italy: The impact of immigrants," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Muysken, Joan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2011. "Immigration and growth in an ageing economy - version 2," MERIT Working Papers 2011-037, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:24:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-022-00972-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.