color. Notable preliminary efforts in this vein include research on
Transnational Cultural Capital (Grineski, 2011) and coping strategies
(Portes et al., 2012). Portes et al. (2012) examine strategies for
coping with immigrant marginalization in the U.S. healthcare system.
Coping strategies may include informal medicine like curanderas/
os, or seeking “grey medicine” from unlicensed health
professionals trained abroad. Grineski (2011) describes the concept
of Transnational Cultural Capital, or the resources among Northern
TexaseMexico border residents that mixes U.S. and Mexican cultural
skills and knowledge to access cross-border healthcare.
Coping strategies and transnational cultural capital provide some
indication that different sets of community-level healthcare
knowledge and skills may exist, and these lie largely outside the
healthcare fields of insured U.S. citizens. Such differences necessitate
reconsideration of the types of cultural skills and knowledge
that facilitate healthcare access in marginalized settings. The
empirical research presented below provides further insight into
the complex ways people actively respond to marginalization, both
pre-Affordable Care Act health system barriers, as well as post-
Affordable Care Act issues that persist especially in states that did
not expand Medicaid.
3. Data and methods
This research draws on 12 months of ethnographic field research
conducted in two waves over 2011e2013 in the South Texas
counties of Cameron and Hidalgo along the U.S.eMexican border.
Data are composed of over 100 h of in-depth interviews with 59
participants and 10 h of observation at U.S.eMexico border
checkpoints, U.S. and Mexican pharmacies, and U.S. and Mexican
clinics and doctor's offices. With the help of 3 local Spanishspeaking
research assistants I conducted semi-structured interviews
with 15 healthcare professionals working with community
health centers and 44 patients or caregivers who buy
prescription drugs. Of the patients and caregivers, 8 are or have
recently been undocumented immigrants, 1 is an authorized
immigrant with a temporary visa, 3 are permanent residents, 5 are
naturalized U.S. citizens, and 27 are U.S-born citizens, 4 of which
have unauthorized immigrants in their immediate family. 39 patients
and caregivers identify as Mexican, Mexican American or
Hispanic, 4 as non-Hispanic whites, and one as Native American. 26
patients/caregivers are women and 18 are men, and their ages
range from 18 to 73 (80% of participants are between 30 and 60). In
the sample 19 patients lack health insurance, and the vast majority
of all participants have at least one friend or family member
without insurance. Most patients and caregivers are working class,
working poor, or low-income: 10 live on public assistance, 3 are
over 65 and retired, 3 are unemployed, 5 are students, 4 are selfemployed,
and 16 patients and caregivers work in moderate to