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. 2023 May 3;23(1):427.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09417-4.

Health outcomes, health services utilization, and costs consequences of medicare uninsurance among migrants in Canada: a systematic review

Sophiya Garasia  1   2 , Valerie Bishop  3 , Stephanie Clayton  3 , Genevieve Pinnington  3 , Chika Arinze  3   4 , Ezza Jalil  3
Affiliations

Health outcomes, health services utilization, and costs consequences of medicare uninsurance among migrants in Canada: a systematic review

Sophiya Garasia et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Medically uninsured groups, many of them migrants, reportedly delay using healthcare services due to costs and often face preventable health consequences. This systematic review sought to assess quantitative evidence on health outcomes, health services use, and health care costs among uninsured migrant populations in Canada.

Methods: OVID MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, EconLit, and grey literature were searched to identify relevant literature published up until March 2021. The Cochrane Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool was used to assess the quality of studies.

Results: Ten studies were included. Data showed that there are differences among insured and uninsured groups in reported health outcomes and health services use. No quantitative studies on economic costs were captured.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate a need to review policies regarding accessible and affordable health care for migrants. Increasing funding to community health centers may improve service utilization and health outcomes among this population.

Keywords: Canada; Health; Health services; Medically uninsured; Migrant.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA representation of the search results
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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