Welfare reform and older immigrants' health insurance coverage

I examined changes in older immigrants' health insurance coverage after welfare reform in the United States to determine whether the reform measures achieved their goal of saving money by reducing Medicaid participation without increasing the number of uninsured people.

Data were obtained from older adults who participated in the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement from 1994 to 1996 and 2001 to 2005. I used logistic regression to estimate changes in the sample's Medicaid and health insurance coverage after welfare reform, paying special attention to noncitizens and recent immigrants.

Older immigrants' health insurance status was associated with their citizenship status and length of stay in the United States. Medicaid participation significantly decreased among noncitizens and recent immigrants but increased among naturalized citizens. Private health insurance and employer-sponsored insurance coverage significantly increased among recent immigrants but decreased among established immigrants and naturalized citizens. The probability of being uninsured did not significantly change among any group of immigrants.

Given increases in postreform Medicaid participation among some immigrant groups, my findings suggest that the long-term cost-saving effectiveness of the current restrictive Medicaid eligibility policy is doubtful.