Employed

Per Capita Income

Above Poverty

Economic

Preschool Enrollment

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Education

Voting

Census Response

Social

Automobile Access

Active Commuting

Transportation

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Retail Density

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Housing Habitability

Uncrowded Housing

Homeownership

Housing

Ozone

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Safe Drinking Water

Clean Environment

Extreme Heat

Impervious Surfaces

Outdoor Workers

Public Transit Access

Sea Level Rise

Two Parent Households

Alcohol Availability

Supermarket Access

Decision Support

Everybody should have access to medical care when they need it and to keep their bodies healthy with regular check-ups. Research indicates that health insurance dramatically improves health outcomes by allowing people to access necessary care. One study found that people without health insurance had a 25% higher risk of mortality than insured individuals. Insurance allows people to receive ongoing, consistent care and establish ongoing relationships with medical providers. It also enables regular screenings and check-ups—helpful for early diagnosis and reduced mortality for cancers and other diseases. People with insurance are far more likely to get medicines to control chronic diseases. Insurance access also has community wide impacts, reducing the spread of communicable diseases. In addition, health insurance helps families save money on expensive medical care. Indeed, almost 50% of bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses, and one study found that uninsured families can afford to pay for only 12% of hospitalization costs.

This indicator measures the percentage of adults aged 18 to 64 years with health insurance.

Schweinhart, “The High/Scope Perrry Preschool Study Through Age 40: Summary, Conclusions, and Frequently Asked Questions.”

Executive Office of the President of the United States, “The Economics of Early Childhood Investments,” 2014, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/the_economics_of_early_childhood_investments.pdf.

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, “Applying Social Determinants of Health Indicator Data for Advancing Healthy Equity,” 2015, https://www.barhii.org/sdoh-indicator-guide.

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project, “Gentrification, Displacement and the Role of Public Investment: A Literature Review,” March 3, 2015, http://iurd.berkeley.edu/uploads/Displacement_Lit_Review_Final.pdf.

“The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard for California | Insight,” accessed January 10, 2017, http://www.insightcced.org/past-archives/insight-networks/building-economic-security-for-all-besa/californians-for-economic-security-cfes/the-self-sufficiency-standard-for-california/.

UCLA and UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, “Enforcing City Minimum Wage Laws In California: Best Practices and City-State Partnerships,” 2015, : http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2015/minimum-wage-enforcement.pdf; U.S. Department of Labor, “The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York,” December 2014.

San Francisco Department of Public Health and Health Impact Partners, “A Health Impact Assessment of the California Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act of 2008,” July 2008, http://www.humanimpact.org/downloads/healthy-workplaces-act-report-2008/.

California Civic Engagement Project, UC Davis Center for Regional, “California’s New Political Realities: The Impact of the Youth Vote on Our Electoral Landscape,” 2015.

Chappel, “The Value of Health Insurance: Few of the Uninsured Have Adequate Resources to Pay Potential Hospital Bills.”

California Pan Ethnic Health Network, UC Berkeley Labor Center, and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, “Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligible to Enrolled.”

Covered California, “Covered California Open Enrollment: Lessons Learned.”

http://itup.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/outreach_notes.pdf

California Pan Ethnic Health Network, “The Landscape of Opportunity: Cultivating Health Equity in California.”

Center for Labor Research and Education, “CalSIM Version 1.91 Statewide Data Book 2015-2019.”

California has made great strides in improving insurance coverage, increasing the number of people with insurance by 3.4 million between 2012 and 2015.

 However, as of 2015, over one in ten Californians was still not covered, with far higher rates in Asian and Latino communities. Undocumented people face special challenges due to ineligibility for many programs and fear of deportation—and consequently represent a third of those still lack insurance.

 For Californians overall, research indicates that eligibility and cost are the primary barriers to coverage.

Improving insurance coverage therefore requires addressing these barriers, as well as helping people understand the options that are available. Jurisdictions wishing to improve health insurance coverage should first 

, especially in communities with lower rates of coverage, and 

 to ensure that as many people as possible are enrolled. In the longer term, jurisdictions should 

 options for people who are not eligible for or face barriers to current coverage options, and 

Provide Quality Care for Uninsured or Underinsured People

, with an emphasis on improving care and reducing costs by providing primary and preventative care.

Jurisdictions can also help people afford insurance premiums, or gain coverage through their work, with policies intended to support economic opportunities for workers. This includes efforts to 

Set up systems to reduce loss of coverage and identify opportunities to enroll people during special enrollment periods and incarceration. 

Equity

Promising

Jail Enrollment

Sufficient Evidence

Enrollment Periods

Boost insurance coverage by conducting proactive outreach targeted and tailored to communities with lower rates of coverage.

In-Reach

Marketing and Media Campaigns

Community-Based Outreach

Help lift whole communities economically, so people can afford the necessities of a healthy life.

Strong Evidence

Increased Funding for Public Health Infrastructure

Worker Cooperative Support Initiatives (Emerging Practice)

Industrial Land Preservation Strategies 

Community Power and Connection

Climate

Small Business Retention Initiatives

Middle-Wage Job Creation Strategies 

Expand coverage options for people who are not eligible for, or face barriers to, current coverage options.

Coverage Expansion Programs

Use strategies to improve health through physical, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing.

Medical Homes 

Behavioral Health Primary Care Integration

Ensure that people have pathways and training to good jobs that will allow them to stay out of poverty.

Health Career Recruitment for Minority Students

High School Education

Job-Focused Basic Skill Training Programs

Industry Driven, Sector-Based Training Programs

Paid Job Training and Placement Programs for Groups that Face Barriers to Employment

Early Childhood Education

Data can be collected, shared, analyzed and used to identify community needs and prioritize strategies to advance equity.

Healthy Neighborhoods

Health

Collect, Analyze, and Use Disaggregated Data

Best Practice

Track Impact Data

Raise workplace standards and wages to ensure that workers have access to employer-provided health insurance and are able to afford insurance premiums.

Paid Sick Day Policies

Wage Theft Policies

Minimum Wage Ordinances

Living Wage Ordinances

Provide primary and preventative care to ensure the health of the three million Californians without health insurance, or those with inadequate coverage.

The Global Payment Program 

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)

Help families build and maintain wealth so that they can afford the necessities of life and save for their futures and children.

Policy Guide

Insured Adults

References