Factors Affecting Access to Health Insurance by Migrants: A Case Study in Chonburi, Thailand
Keywords:
Migrants, Health Insurance, ChonburiAbstract
This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze factors affecting access to health insurance by migrants in Chonburi, Thailand. The behavioral model for vulnerable populations was applied as the conceptual framework. The 348 participants were randomly selected from three economic sectors by using time-space sampling and randomized with venue-based sampling techniques. Data about factors affecting accessibility to health insurance by the participant were collected through two interview questionnaires, which were validated and had a content validity index of 0.79 and 0.81, respectively. Reliability of questionnaires was tested using cronbach’s alpha coefficient, yielding values of 0.74 and 0.76, respectively. Data were described by frequency and percentage. Logistic regression model was performed to explore the factors affecting accessibility to migrant health insurance.
Research results indicated that 58.91 percent of participants had no health insurance. More than half of them (51.44%) thought that the cost of annual health insurance was inappropriate, while most of them (97.21%) believed that it was too expensive. Affecting factors for having health insurance were being a legal migrant (ORadj = 6.64, 95%CI 2.95-14.19) and the ability to communicate into the Thai language (ORadj = 2.65, 95%CI 1.82-5.96). Both factors had 14.07 percent of predictive value for having migrant health insurance.
Therefore, it is recommended that organizations related to migrants should help with the cost of health insurance, as well as improve Thai communication skills for immigrants and adjust the legal mechanisms for migrant registration.
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