Presenter: Elizabeth Marie Sheperd

Faculty Sponsor: Kathleen A. Brown-Perez

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Public Health and Epidemiology

Session: Poster Session 5, 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM, Auditorium, A68

ABSTRACT

This thesis examines how U.S. policies dictating immigrant access to the health care safety net impact public health outcomes, workforce stability, and fiscal contributions overall. Immigrants play an important role in society as workers, consumers, and taxpayers, yet they are often excluded from qualifying for public health insurance programs because of restrictive anti-immigration policies. Research from policy analyses, case studies, administrative data, and other peer-reviewed literature demonstrates how inadequate access to the health care safety net leads to minimal preventive care, worsened health outcomes, and an increased reliance on costly emergency care. Furthermore, conflating medical and legal systems discourages immigrants from interacting with the U.S. health care system, which compromises public health initiatives as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, the research analysis highlights how reforming the Affordable Care Act to expand immigrants’ access to the health care safety net would benefit the U.S. by increasing preventive care and early intervention, allowing immigrants to remain and maximize their time as actively employed members of society. This, in turn, serves as an additional funding source for the system through fiscal contributions made by immigrants as consumers and taxpayers. Research further shows in these situations that, on average, immigrants decrease the fiscal burden on society because while they contribute funding to the system, they tend to take little in return. This thesis ultimately concludes that advancing toward a more inclusive health care safety net can sustain public health initiatives and promote economic resilience, which would strengthen the nation overall.