A Study of Health Care Coverage Among Children in Immigrant Families in the Post Welfare-Reform Era

ABSTRACT

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) has targeted lawful immigrants by imposing a broad range of restrictions on access to federally funded benefit programs. Within the federal restrictions, however, states have been granted considerable latitude concerning immigrants. In Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid, the major benefit programs for low-income children, states are authorized to determine whether these programs are to be provided to immigrant families. First, this study examines variations in immigrant provisions across states in Medicaid, TANF, and state health care programs. Second, the study estimates the impact of state immigrant provisions in those programs on the uninsured among children of immigrants. Using the 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS), the study finds that state-funded Medicaid and state health care programs made available to ineligible immigrants (under PRWORA) significantly decrease the risk of being uninsured for children of immigrants, while controlling all other socio-economic-geographical variables. A child's citizenship is also found to be a significant and strong predictor for being uninsured among children of immigrants.

KEYWORDS:

• Welfare reform
• children of immigrants
• health insurance coverage
• TANF
• health care programs