Four California Counties Recognized for Work Expanding Health Care
New research from UC-Berkeley highlights four California counties' proactive work to expand health care access to low-income, uninsured individuals at a time when resources are limited, the Eureka Reporter reports.
The study, funded by UC-Berkeley's California Program on Access to Care, details the work of Humboldt, Fresno, Santa Cruz and Solano counties in expanding health coverage.
The study found that the counties were able to serve more low-income, uninsured patients by:
- Launching health insurance programs for children ineligible for existing publicly funded health care programs;
- Creating initiatives to ease the process of receiving treatment and getting to health care clinics;
- Adopting new information technology programs, such as One-e-App, that can identify individuals eligible for services; and
- Adopting insurance programs for the most vulnerable patient populations.
Annette Gardner, author of the study, said, "We shouldn't make comparisons to who is doing better at what because every county is a little different ... [but] by seeing what's transferable, it can give other counties the benefit of what's going on" (Harrison, Eureka Reporter, 2/19).
The study is available online (.pdf). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.