Sander, Is there migration-related inequity in health care utilisation in Germany?, 01-09-2007 1 Very Preliminary – Please do not cite! Is there migration-related inequity in health service utilisation in Germany?

Using 12 waves from the SOEP, this study analyses if there exists inequity in access or in the utilisation of health care services due to lacking language skills or due to lacking information about the health care system (approximated by years since migration) among German first-and second-generation immigrants. The results indicate that years since migration have a slightly impact on the contact decision, but not on the frequency decision. Hence, missing knowledge about the health care system could create additional access barriers and hence yield inequity in access to health care, but not in utilisation of health care services. Regarding the contact decision, German language skills have no influence for the first-generation immigrants, but for second-generation women. Hence, for this group, there exists inequity in the access to health care due to language skills. Regarding the frequency decision, German language skills seem to play a role for the group of first-immigrant men as well as for men and women of the second-generation: those reporting poor language skills have a significant lower expected number of visits. Hence, there is evidence for inequity in health care utilisation due to lacking language skills