Inequities in immigrants’ access to health care services : disentangling potential barriers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess whether immigrants suffer from unequal access to health care services, that add to prevailing socioeconomic barriers to care. Design/methodology/approach: Using a uniquely rich Italian health survey, the authors estimate the correlation between immigrant status and the probability of accessing health services, conditional on a rich set of individual and territorial characteristics. Findings: Results show that foreigners are more likely to contact emergency services and less likely to visit specialist doctors and use preventive care. Similar results hold for second-generation immigrants. Originality/value: The authors discuss the sources of observed inequities and suggest tentative policy implications to promote equal access.