blog post Video: Emergency Department Use in California By Mary Severance Apr 22, 2019 A recent PPIC event featured a new report, along with an expert panel, on how the expansion of health coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act has affected emergency department use in the state.
Fact Sheet The Medi-Cal Program By Shannon McConville, Paulette Cha Apr 8, 2019 Medi-Cal is a state-federal program that provides 12 million low-income Californians with comprehensive health insurance.
Report Emergency Department Use in California: Demographics, Trends, and the Impact of the ACA By Shannon McConville, Caroline Danielson, Renee Hsia Feb 11, 2019 Visits to hospital emergency departments in California have grown considerably in recent years. But we find no evidence that the expansion of health coverage under the Affordable Care Act caused those increases.
blog post Californians’ Priorities for the Next Governor By Mark Baldassare Nov 19, 2018 The 2018 election was a sweeping success for Democrats in California. What will Californians' priorities be for Governor-elect Newsom?
blog post Emergency Departments and the Affordable Care Act By Shannon McConville Jun 27, 2018 Frequent visits to the emergency department can mean patients have few medical care options. Under the ACA, frequent emergency department use fell for Medi-Cal patients.
Report Expanding Health Coverage in California: County Jails as Enrollment Sites By Shannon McConville, Mia Bird May 10, 2016 In 2014, the first year of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, the number of Californians with health insurance increased substantially. However, millions of state residents continue to lack comprehensive health coverage, and those who remain uninsured are likely more difficult to enroll through traditional strategies. In this report, we find that uninsured rates are highest for young men and for those with low levels of education, income, and employment. The prevalence of these same characteristics among correctional populations suggests that the justice system—and, in particular, county jails—may offer points of contact for many uninsured individuals who would otherwise be hard to reach. Outreach and enrollment efforts aimed at local jail populations are set within the policy context of California’s 2011 Public Safety Realignment, which created incentives and resources for local corrections agencies to improve reentry outcomes. With expansions in access to health insurance coverage under the ACA, nearly all counties are establishing programs to provide enrollment assistance to jail inmates as part of a more comprehensive reentry strategy. But resources and capacity are limited, so it is important to identify effective models to maximize the potential of county correctional systems as sites of insurance enrollment.
blog post Immigrants and Health Insurance By Shannon McConville Nov 18, 2015 California has seen large declines in the uninsured rate among noncitizens—a group that includes an estimated 2.6 million people who legally reside in the state, as well as 2.7 million undocumented immigrants.