Impact of the introduction of the electronic health insurance card on the use of medical services by asylum seekers in Germany
- \(\textbf {Objectives:}\) Asylum seekers in Germany represent a highly vulnerable group from a health perspective. Furthermore, their access to healthcare is restricted. While the introduction of the Electronic Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for asylum seekers instead of healthcare-vouchers is discussed controversially using politico-economic reasons, there is hardly any empirical evidence regarding its actual impact on the use of medical services. The aim of the study is to examine this impact on the use of medical services by asylum seekers as measured by their consultation rate of ambulant physicians (CR). \(\textbf {Study Design:}\) For this purpose, a standardized survey was conducted with 260 asylum seekers in different municipalities, some of which have introduced the EHIC for asylum seekers, while others have not. \(\textbf {Methods:}\) The period prevalence was compared between the groups "with EHIC" and "without EHIC" using a two-sided \(\it t-\)test. Multivariate analysis was done using a linear OLS regression model. \(\textbf {Results:}\) Asylum seekers in possession of the EHIC are significantly more likely to seek ambulant medical care than those receiving healthcare-vouchers. \(\textbf {Conclusions:}\) The results of this study suggest that having to ask for healthcare-vouchers at the social security office could be a relevant barrier for asylum seekers.
Author: | Kevin ClaassenORCiDGND, Pia JägerORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-60120 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050856 |
Parent Title (English): | International journal of environmental research and public health |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2018/07/20 |
Date of first Publication: | 2018/04/25 |
Publishing Institution: | Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek |
Tag: | Open Access Fonds Electronic Health Insurance Card; Germany; asylum seeker; public health; refugee |
Volume: | 15 |
Issue: | 5 |
First Page: | 1 |
Last Page: | 11 |
Note: | Article Processing Charge funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Ruhr-Universität Bochum. |
Institutes/Facilities: | LWL-Universitätsklinikum Bochum, Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Präventivmedizin |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | Sozialwissenschaften / Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie, Anthropologie |
open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
faculties: | Medizinische Fakultät |
Licence (English): | Creative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International |