Health insurance enrollment patterns of Mexican American children: Determining participation rates and examining group differences and similarities

This study analyzed the health insurance enrollment patterns of Mexican American and Non-Hispanic White children using an economic framework to examine the demand for health insurance. The overarching theory tested is that demand for medical insurance will rise as income rises and enables the family to purchase medical insurance.;The motivation for this study was the fact that Mexican American children are enrolled in health insurance plans at lower rates than their White counterparts, and where they are enrolled, they appear to be more concentrated in public rather than private plans. Mexican Americans are the least likely of all Latinos to enroll in health insurance plans, are one of the fastest growing U.S. subpopulations, and will comprise a large percentage of the workforce in the coming decades. Thus, the question of how to increase access to health insurance for their children is an important social policy issue.;This study used data from the 1995-97 National Health Interview Survey, the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and the Area Resource File. The inclusion of nativity, language skills, and geographic context allowed for a more thorough consideration of the social influences on insurance enrollment. Econometric analyses were used to explore the factors leading to selection of one of three mutually exclusive options: enrolling in employer-sponsored insurance, enrolling in Medicaid, or being uninsured.;The findings suggest that non-income related characteristics of Mexican American children are often as or are more determinative of their enrollment patterns than is their family's ability to pay for insurance.;Public policies such as tax credits, premium subsidies, mandatory employer-sponsorship, Medicaid, and CHIP could be of great benefit to uninsured Mexican American children. But if policymakers do not consider the heterogeneity within this population with respect to immigration status and adherence to mainstream U.S. norms, attempts to enroll them may not be as successful as anticipated.