Open AccessUtilization of health care: the Laredo migrant experience.
Author(s) -
J Walker
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.69.7.667
Subject(s) - health care , health insurance , population , medicine , public health , immigration , ambulatory , ambulatory care , public health insurance , business , environmental health , demography , geography , nursing , economic growth , sociology , economics , archaeology
In 1973, three groups of randomly selected migrant labor families resident in Laredo, Texas were enrolled in a prepaid health insurance study. A study was implemented to determine the kinds and costs of medical care used by Mexican American migrant labor families in their homebase and travel areas where financial barriers to care were eliminated or reduced. At the end of three years it was found that the study population used ambulatory services about one-half as much as the general U.S. population while hospital use approached regional norms. The differences between homebase and out-of-area use are highlighted, and the reported failure to use any public facilities outside of Laredo is discussed.