Health Insurance Coverage In Mexico Among Return Migrants: Differences Between Voluntary Return Migrants And...

Between 2010 and 2019 the number of Mexican immigrants in the US declined by almost 780,000, or 7 percent. Repatriated migrants either return voluntarily to Mexico (returnees) or are forcibly removed from the US (deportees). As repatriated migrants navigate their return, access to health care in Mexico becomes a pressing need. Lack of a valid form of identification, limited awareness of services, and social stigma, among other factors, restrict health coverage in Mexico for return migrants. This study examined differences in health insurance coverage in Mexico between Mexican-born deportees and returnees from the US in a five-year period and a reference population of Mexican-born residents (nonmigrants and returnees who had been back in Mexico for five years or longer). Using data from Mexico's National Survey of Demographic Dynamics from 2014 and 2018, we found that 74.0 percent of voluntary returnees and 67.5 percent of deportees had health insurance, compared with 88.4 percent of the reference population, after adjustment for socioeconomic and demographic differences. Policy makers from federal, state, and local governments and community organizations need to improve the reintegration of repatriated migrants by reducing bureaucratic hurdles, preparing returnees and deportees for their return to Mexico, and strengthening health coverage options for return migrants.