Undocumented immigrants, left out of health reform, likely to continue to grow as a share of the uninsured

Abstract

(1) From 1999 to 2007, the number of undocumented immigrants increased from an estimated 8.5 million to 11.8 million, leading to an estimated ad­ditional 1.8 million uninsured. (2) Undocumented immigrants with incomes below 133 percent FPL are almost twice as likely to be uninsured as native-born citizens in the same income level. (3) 19.5 percent of undocumented im­migrants with incomes above 400 percent FPL are uninsured, versus 6.6 percent of native-born citizens at the same income level. (4) Undocumented immigrants will not be eligible for public insurance or private coverage obtained through exchanges under the ACA.