The promise and limits of inclusive public policy: federal safety net clinics and immigrant access to health care in the U.S.

ABSTRACT: In the United States, exclusionary public policies generate inequalities within and across labor, financial, and legal status hierarchies, which together undermine immigrant well-being. But can inclusive public policies improve immigrant health? We examine whether and how an immigrant-inclusive federal program, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), shaped health care access and use among farmworkers over nearly three decades, paying particular attention to disparities at the intersection of nativity and legal status. Linking historical administrative data on the location and funding of FQHCs with the National Agricultural Workers Survey from 1989-2017, we first document trends in farmworkers' county-level proximity to FQHCs and identify a steady increase in FQHC access among undocume

SUBMITTER: Parker E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11726819 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature