Health care experiences of Hispanics in new and traditional U.S. destinations

Abstract

Over the past 15 years, striking new settlement patterns have emerged that have brought about unprecedented geographic dispersion in the population of approximately 45 million Hispanics in the United States. In this study, the authors compare the health care experiences of working age U.S.-born Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants living in new and traditional Hispanic destinations. They use a geocoded version of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component linked to contextual data from secondary sources. They characterize destinations as new or traditional using information on the percentage of the population that was Hispanic in 1990 and the growth in percent Hispanic between 1990 and 2000. The authors find that, compared with living in destinations with a well-established Hispanic presence, U.S.-born Mexican Americans living in new destinations have less favorable health care outcomes, including a greater probability of having an unmet need for or delay in receiving medical care and reduced satisfaction with care.