Lack of insurance drives El Pasoans across the border for healthcare

http://publicaffairs.uth.tmc.edu/media/newsreleases/nr2009/insurance_elpaso.htm

HOUSTON – (Feb. 20, 2009) – One-third of El Paso’s residents cross the Texas-Mexico border to Ciudad Juarez to purchase medication and health care services, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health El Paso Regional campus.

Results from this study are published in the February issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.
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The study found while 33 percent travel from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, only 5.2 percent travel from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso seeking more affordable and easily accessible medication and health care services.
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According to Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, 62.3 percent of Ciudad Juarez residents are enrolled in government insurance plans, which provide them with more overall access to healthcare. Cardenas’ study found that 59.6 percent of El Paso residents and 82.8 percent of Ciudad Juarez residents were insured.