This new study found that providing health insurance to the estimated 6.3 million Californians who are currently uninsured would increase direct health care expenditures within the state by about $7.4 billion, or $1,180 per uninsured person, with significant savings likely through better health, preventive care and reduced spending by "safety net" providers. The study used 2001 California Health Interview Survey data and 1998-2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to provide estimates of the direct expenditures made on behalf of Californians in the health care system. The authors suggest that providing health insurance may be more affordable if the state can find mechanisms for redirecting current sources of public and private expenditures on behalf of the uninsured.

This report uses data derived from a survey of 13,600 general dentists throughout California and constructs a picture of private dental practice in California; including staffing levels, wage and benefits, patient populations, and experiences in utilizing Allied Dental Health Professionals (ADHP). As it relates specifically to the question of a workforce shortage of ADHP, dentists reported on the length of time to hire these personnel, their perceptions of shortage, and the impact of a shortage on their practice. In this report, a shortage is examined by identifying delays in hiring dental hygienists and dental assistants, used to define a workforce shortage. The report also details various aspects of experienced shortages by examining geographic distributions where shortages may be more problematic and where efforts to alleviate shortage may be focused.

This brief summarizes the evidence on the health benefits of expanded access, with particular attention to the newest studies from recent coverage expansions in Massachusetts, Oregon, and parts of California.

More than 96 percent (nearly 24 million) of insured Californians report "good" or better satisfaction with their health care. Researchers note that while the overall rate of satisfaction with health care is high among the state's insured population, many consumers are not obtaining recommended preventive services. The estimates in the brief come from analysis of the 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).

This new study found that providing health insurance to the estimated 6.3 million Californians who were uninsured in 2001 would increase health care expenditures within the state by about $842 million, or $143 per uninsured person, with significant savings likely through program consolidation, better health and preventive care, reduced uncompensated care spending by "safety net" providers, and expanding insurance revenues. The study used 2001 California Health Interview Survey data and 1998-2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to provide estimates of the direct expenditures ($9.8 billion) made on behalf of Californians in the health care system. Then, data was collected from all of California's counties and programs for the uninsured in order to estimate the cost of providing indirect subsidies ($3.6 billion) to the uninsured. The authors suggest that providing health insurance may be more affordable if the state can find mechanisms for redirecting current sources of public and private expenditures on behalf of the uninsured.

This fact sheet presents county-by-county estimates of the number of California residents who have lost health insurance during the economic downturn. The authors find that the number of Californians without health insurance grew in all counties and that 37 counties — from Imperial to Kern to Shasta — had uninsured rates above the statewide average of 24.3%.

Loss of health insurance was concentrated in Southern California (Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino counties), the San Joaquin Valley (all counties), and the Northern/ Sierra areas (all but Sutter and Humbolt), all of which had 2009 uninsured rates that were above the statewide average (24%).

The losses were due to sharp increases in local unemployment and corresponding drops in both household income and job-based coverage.

This report provides a pre-reform snapshot of health status and utilization characteristics of Californians who were either enrolled in commercial or public managed care plans or who were uninsured in 2007. Using the most recently available data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), this report provides a detailed profile of demographic characteristics, disease conditions, health status, health care use, and barriers to care among California residents. Among the findings are a high need for certain types of health care, such as mental health services, as well as a growing reliance on high-deductible health plans, especially among the low-income and self-employed.

In this report, we estimate the growth in Medi-Cal enrollment among both the newly and already eligible using the UC Berkeley/UCLA California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model.