Immigrant women of reproductive age in the United States face significant challenges to obtaining comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage and care, including sexual and reproductive health services. This is due to myriad policy and systemic factors. The Guttmacher Institute has partnered with the Commonwealth Fund to publish an issue brief synthesizing recent evidence on immigrant women’s access to sexual and reproductive health coverage and care, comparing evidence to that of U.S.-born women where available. Based on these findings, the brief makes specific recommendations for federal and state policymaking, including expanding eligibility for public and private health insurance coverage and shoring up the nation’s health care safety net. The brief also recommends further research to better understand immigrants’ needs, their use of services and their health outcomes, as well as factors that contribute to differences both among groups of immigrant women and between immigrant and U.S.-born women.
You can read the full report here.