Who loses public health insurance when states pass restrictive omnibus immigration-related laws? The moderating role of county Latino density

Abstract

In the United States, there is widespread concern that state laws restricting rights for noncitizens may have spillover effects for Latino children in immigrant families. Studies into the laws’ effects on health care access have inconsistent findings, demonstrating gaps in our understanding of who is most affected, under what circumstances. Using comparative interrupted time series methods and a nationally-representative sample of US citizen, Latino children with noncitizen parents from the National Health Interview Survey (2005–2014, n = 18,118), this study finds that living in counties with higher co-ethnic density placed children at greater risk of losing Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program coverage when their states passed restrictive state omnibus immigrant laws. This study is the first to demonstrate the importance of examining how the health impacts of immigration-related policies vary across local communities.