Out-of-Pocket Expenditures and the Financial Burden of Healthcare Among Older Adults: By Nativity and Length of Residence in the United States

Newly arrived older immigrants in the United States tend to be greatly affected by increasing out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures due to their limited insurance options. To examine such disparities in the out-of-pocket expenditures, this study analyzed the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey by immigrant status. Major findings of this study indicated that although recent immigrants had lower total healthcare expenditures, they spent much higher proportions of their annual income on out-of-pocket medical payments, compared with their US-born counterparts. Dramatically higher out-of-pocket burdens among recent immigrants represent a barrier to necessary healthcare, which needs to be addressed from both public health and economic perspectives.