Stretching the Safety Net to Serve Undocumented Immigrants: Community Responses to Health Needs

Originally published by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), 2006.

Safety Net Providers Stretch to Serve Undocumented Immigrants

Safety net providers in communities with significant undocumented immigrant populations were stretching limited resources to meet the health needs of this vulnerable group, according to HSC research. Undocumented immigrants generally did not qualify for public health insurance programs and rarely had employer-sponsored coverage, making them almost entirely reliant on safety net providers, emergency departments, and community health centers for medical care.

Communities responded to the health needs of undocumented residents in varied ways. Some had developed creative approaches to providing care, including sliding-fee-scale clinics, volunteer physician networks, and partnerships between safety net providers and community organizations that served as cultural bridges. Others struggled to meet even basic health care needs for this population amid tight budgets and competing demands from other underserved groups. The research documented the tension between the practical necessity of providing health care to all community members, regardless of immigration status, and the limited public funding available to support such care.

Sources and Further Reading

Center for Studying Health System Change, "Stretching the Safety Net to Serve Undocumented Immigrants: Community Responses to Health Needs" (2006).