Mexican Immigrants and the E.R.

Recent immigrants from Mexico are half as likely to useemergency rooms as U.S.-born whites and Mexican Americans, according to a study releasedThursday by the University of California and the Mexican government. Fewer than 10% of recent Mexican immigrants – whether they came in legally or not -reported using an emergency room in 2000, according to the study, based on an analysis ofthe U.S. National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2000 by a unit of the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services. In contrast, 20% of U.S.-born whites and Mexican Americans used an emergency room during the same time period.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 2005
bh