Chilling Effects on Immigrants' Health Insurance Coverage After the 2016 Presidential Election.

BACKGROUND

Depressed enrollment in public benefits among immigrants and their families may occur due to concerns about deportation and obstacles to permanent residency status related to immigration policies.

METHODS

Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2014 to 2019, we conducted an interrupted time series analysis to estimate Medicaid enrollment, private insurance enrollment, and uninsured rates among low-income non-citizen adults and their children, compared to U.S. citizens before and after the Trump administration entered office in January 2017.

RESULTS

Compared to U.S. citizen adults, Medicaid enrollment among non-citizen adults decreased and the uninsured rate increased (1.5 percentage points per year, p < 0.05) from 2017 to 2019. Decreases in coverage starting in 2017 were larger among both children with at least one non-citizen parent and non-citizen children.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that the Trump administration immigration policy climate is associated with decreased health insurance enrollment among this population.