SAN DIEGO COUNTY: Lags in Uninsured Spending

      Noting that a recent report found that San Diego County spends less on health care for each of its uninsured residents than any other large county in the state, an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune by Mickie Beyer, CEO of the Council of Community Clinics, the group that sponsored the study, notes that the "lack of health insurance directly impacts health status, the cost of health care and access to services for the entire community." The report said the primary reasons for the county's low level of spending are that it "receives significantly less than its fair share of federal and state dollars to support health care programs" for the uninsured, and it "allocates fewer dollars to health care than other counties." Noting that some 600,000 people -- 27% of the nonelderly population -- in San Diego County are uninsured, Beyer says that the county should take greater "advantage of opportunities to leverage state and federal dollars through matching funds," and should be more aggressive in Med-Cal enrollment outreach (Beyer, 3/12).