Objective

This paper focuses on public and private healthcare utilization among dependents living in Mexico of Mexican migrants in California, analyzing the link between remittances and enrollment in Seguro Popular, a social health insurance plan.

Materials and methods

We surveyed 1353 migrants who visited the Mexican consulate of Los Angeles in 2010.

Results

53.9% sent remittances; 72.2% of households receiving remittances used a share of remittances for health care and 74.4% of them were covered by Seguro Popular. The annual median with private health care expenditure was USD 825, compared to USD 293 for public providers. The main predictors remittances utilization for healthcare were having a sick dependent, purchase of prescription drugs, experiencing problems paying for health care and time of U.S. residence.

Conclusions

Seguro Popular increases healthcare utilization with public providers, which provides an opportunity to reallocate the use of migrant's remittances for health purposes.