Kern County Sees Promise in Expansion of Health Project

Although Kern County has one of the state's lowest ratios of primary care doctors to residents, officials see promise in a state request for a Medicaid waiver to expand California's Health Care Coverage Initiative. The Kern Medical Center Health Plan -- one of 10 county-level pilot programs that make up HCCI -- already has improved access to health care and reduced costs by providing about 5,510 low-income residents with a medical home. The article was supported by the California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting. CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline.

• "Doctors Needed as Health Care Reform Approaches" (Mayer/Gonzales, Bakersfield Californian, 8/21).
• "Bridge to Health Care Reform Strained in Kern" (Gonzales/Mayer, Bakersfield Californian, 8/21).