ArticleBMC health services research2021
Including undocumented migrants in universal health coverage: a maternal health case study from the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Article in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Between duty and constraint: a qualitative systematic review of healthcare providers' ethical challenges and moral stressors in caring for undocumented migrants.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Pooled it
- The sexual and reproductive healthcare challenges when dealing with female migrants and refugees in low and middle-income countries (a qualitative evidence synthesis).BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Multi-Stakeholder Primary Health Care for Migrant Populations in Thailand's Border Regions: A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Opportunities.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- A mixed-methods evaluation of outreach service provision by the "Strengthening Migrant Access to Reproductive Health in Thailand" Initiative, 2020-2024.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Strengthening Migrant Access to Reproductive Healthcare in Thailand: observation of fixed and outreach service-based models of antenatal care for Karen and Myanmar migrants in Thailand, 2021-2024.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Between borders and barriers: disability prevalence, pregnancy outcomes and maternal care access on the Thai-Myanmar border, a mixed methods study.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Is universal health coverage really better? Unintended consequences of the 2019 Amendment of the National Health Insurance Act for humanitarian sojourners in South Korea.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Migrant women's experience of antenatal care in an urban and rural setting in north and North-West Thailand: A cross sectional survey.Journal of migration and health · 2025Article
- The COVID-19 experience among international migrant workers in the Republic of Korea: knowledge and awareness of treatment and immigration policies.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Characteristics of Vulnerable Foreigners in Need of Emergency Care Support in Japan: A Case Study of Thai Nationals from 2004 to 2020.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2024Article
- Governance, policy, and health systems responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The impact of the health microinsurance M-FUND on the utilization of health services among migrant workers and their dependents in Thailand: A case-control study.Journal of migration and health · 2024Article
- Financing for equity for women's, children's and adolescents' health in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Giving birth on the way to the clinic: undocumented migrant women's perceptions and experiences of maternal healthcare accessibility along the Thailand-Myanmar border.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Born too soon in a resource-limited setting: A 10-year mixed methods review of a special care baby unit for refugees and migrants on the Myanmar-Thailand border.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Use of non-governmental maternity services and pregnancy outcomes among undocumented women: a cohort study from Norway.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMany countries aspiring to achieve universal health coverage struggle with how to ensure health coverage for undocumented migrants. Using a case study of maternal health care in a Thailand-Myanmar border region this article explores coverage for migrants, service provision challenges and the contribution of a voluntary health insurance program.
methodsIn 2018 we interviewed 18 key informants who provided, oversaw or contributed to maternal healthcare services for migrant women in the border region of Tak province, Thailand.
resultsIn this region, we found that public and non-profit providers helped increase healthcare coverage beyond undocumented migrants' official entitlements. Interview participants explained that Free and low-cost antenatal care (ANC) is provided to undocumented migrants through migrant specific clinics, outreach programs and health posts. Hospitals offer emergency birth care, although uninsured migrant patients are subsequently billed for the services. Care providers identified sustainability, institutional debt from unpaid obstetric hospital bills, cross border logistical difficulties and the late arrival of patients requiring emergency lifesaving interventions as challenges when providing care to undocumented migrants. An insurance fund was developed to provide coverage for costly emergency interventions at Thai government hospitals. The insurance fund, along with existing free and low-cost services, helped increase population coverage, range of services and financial protection for undocumented migrants.
conclusionsThis case study offers considerations for extending health coverage to undocumented populations. Non-profit insurance funds can help to improve healthcare entitlements, provide financial protection and reduce service providers' debt. However, there are limits to programs that offer voluntary coverage for undocumented migrants. High costs associated with emergency interventions along with gaps in insurance coverage challenge the sustainability for NGO, non-profit and government health providers and may be financially disastrous for patients. Finally, in international border regions with high mobility, it may be valuable to implement and strengthen cross border referrals and health insurance for migrants.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.