Exhibit - Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity: Immigrant Access to Health Care and the Affordable Care Act

 

Immigrant Access to Health Care and the Affordable Care Act

Start Date

April 2025

Location

2nd floor - Library

Abstract

We can all agree that disparities in access to healthcare are a significant issue, yet we know little about the impact of state-level ACA implementation on access to healthcare among immigrant populations. Many factors make this question important, primarily each state’s ability to make its own decisions regarding Medicaid expansion, ACA outreach, and immigration policy. We approach the problem from the perspective of state policy variation and its relationship to healthcare inclusion for immigrants. Our study design is state-level with all 50 states as the sample and relies on quantitative data from the American Community Survey, state policy data sources, and prior scholarly research, as well as important qualitative data for each state, such as immigrant sanctuary status and partisan alignment. We analyze these data using comparative statistical methods to search for patterns in policy decisions and immigrant healthcare access. We hypothesize that states that have implemented the Affordable Care Act more fully- particularly through Medicaid expansion and inclusive immigrant policies- will demonstrate significantly higher rates of healthcare access among immigrant populations compared to states that have not adopted these measures.

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Apr 23rd, 4:15 PM Apr 23rd, 5:15 PM

Immigrant Access to Health Care and the Affordable Care Act

2nd floor - Library

We can all agree that disparities in access to healthcare are a significant issue, yet we know little about the impact of state-level ACA implementation on access to healthcare among immigrant populations. Many factors make this question important, primarily each state’s ability to make its own decisions regarding Medicaid expansion, ACA outreach, and immigration policy. We approach the problem from the perspective of state policy variation and its relationship to healthcare inclusion for immigrants. Our study design is state-level with all 50 states as the sample and relies on quantitative data from the American Community Survey, state policy data sources, and prior scholarly research, as well as important qualitative data for each state, such as immigrant sanctuary status and partisan alignment. We analyze these data using comparative statistical methods to search for patterns in policy decisions and immigrant healthcare access. We hypothesize that states that have implemented the Affordable Care Act more fully- particularly through Medicaid expansion and inclusive immigrant policies- will demonstrate significantly higher rates of healthcare access among immigrant populations compared to states that have not adopted these measures.