title: United States-Mexico cross-border health insurance initiatives: Salud Migrante and Medicare in Mexico.
abstract: While U.S. health care reform will most likely reduce the overall number of uninsured Mexican-Americans, it does not address challenges related to health care coverage for undocumented Mexican immigrants, who will remain uninsured under the measures of the reform; documented low-income Mexican immigrants who have not met the five-year waiting period required for Medicaid benefits; or the growing number of retired U.S. citizens living in Mexico, who lack easy access to Medicare-supported services. This article reviews two promising binational initiatives that could help address these challenges-Salud Migrante and Medicare in Mexico; discusses their prospective applications within the context of U.S. health care reform; and identifies potential challenges to their implementation (legal, political, and regulatory), as well as the possible benefits, including coverage of uninsured Mexican immigrants, and their integration into the U.S. health care system (through Salud Migrante), and access to lower-cost Medicare-supported health care for U.S. retirees in Mexico (Medicare in Mexico).
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Bustamante, California, USA. avb@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vargas Bustamante
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laugesen
authors.forename: Mabel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caban
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosenau
mesh_terms: D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014943:Global Health / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007354:Insurance, Major Medical / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D007391:International Cooperation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics; D012179:Retirement / Q000191:economics; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States