Restricting Immigrant Access to Pregnancy-Related Insurance Has Public Health Consequences

This paper, co-authred by Ashley Fox, was published in the American Journal of Public Health; it can be found here.

In the article “Navigating the Labyrinth of Pregnancy-Related Coverage for Undocumented Immigrants: An Assessment of Current State and Federal Policies,” DiMeo et al. (p. 1051) outline state and federal policies regarding public health insurance coverage for nonqualified immigrants, highlighting substantial gaps in eligibility, leaving many pregnant immigrants without insurance coverage. For those eligible, the authors further describe barriers to obtaining coverage, including knowledge, awareness, and administrative burden. In this commentary, we build on these findings to describe consequences to the nation’s public health and review possible policy solutions.