Comparing racial and immigrant health status and health care access in later life in Canada and the United States

Abstract

Little comparative research exists on health experiences and conditions of minority groups in Canada and the United States, despite both countries having a racially diverse population with a significant proportion of immigrants. This article explores race and immigrant disparities in health and health care access across the two countries. The study focus was on middle and old age given the change and increasing diversity in health and health care policy, such as Medicare. Logistic regression analysis of data from the 2002-2003 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health shows that the joint effect of race and nativity on health outcomes - health differences between native and foreign-born Whites and non-Whites - is largely insignificant in Canada but considerable in the U.S. Non-White native and foreign-born Americans within both 45-to-64 and 65-and-over age groups experience significant disadvantage in health status and access to care, irrespective of health insurance coverage, demographic, socio-economic, and lifestyle factors.