This report estimates the number of uninsured parents and children who are eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families coverage as a result of changes made under the 1999-2000 budget act — and the number who would become eligible for these programs under four different policy proposals to simplify and expand eligibility.

This study reports geographic variations in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among children, adolescents, and adults and examines the correlation between soda consumption and obesity. Among the findings: researchers found that adults who drink a soda or more per day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight than those who do not drink sodas, regardless of income or ethnicity. Among children, the study found that 40 percent of young children (2-11 years of age) are drinking at least one soda or sugar-sweetened beverage every day. Adolescents (12-17) represent the biggest consumers, with 62 percent(over 2 million youths) drinking one or more sodas every day – the equivalent of consuming 39 pounds of sugar each year in soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages.

Data was drawn from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), which interviewed more than 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents from every county in the state.

This new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research presents diabetes prevalence rates among adults by California Assembly and Senate districts. These data are relevant to policymakers and advocates concerned with the impact of chronic conditions on the health of Californians. Estimating the prevalence of diabetes at the local level is increasingly important as rates continue to climb and the state's population continues to age and become more ethnically diverse. Diabetes prevalence rates were estimated using a small-area methodology with data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys (CPS) and 2000 Census.

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in hypertension rates among California adults for counties, county-groups, Los Angeles Service Planning Areas, as well as for state legislative and Congressional districts. The first-of-its-kind sub-county data in this publication are useful for policy makers, advocates and medical providers in understanding the burden of the condition in local communities across California. Hypertension rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.

In response to rising occupational health care costs within workers’ compensation programs, states during the 1990s introduced cost containment strategies adapted from non-occupational employmentbased group health insurance plans. In particular, managed care approaches and techniques gained popularity with workers’ compensation health insurers. An early evaluation of Florida’s experience with workers’ compensation managed care suggested that this strategy could have significant potential for controlling the workers’ compensation medical costs

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in uninsured children's Medi-Cal/Healthy Family eligibility rates by state Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts, as well as by counties and the Los Angeles Service Planning Areas (SPAs). Funded by The California Endowment, the brief is particularly relevant at this time when the lack of health insurance among children is becoming a focus of state and national policymakers as well as advocacy groups, including the recently approved expansion of the Healthy Families program by the Department of Health and Human Services. Uninsured-eligibility rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census. Among the key findings are: The areas in the state that had notably high numbers of uninsured-and-eligible children were located primarily in the greater Southern California and Central Valley regions of the state. Almost one out of every three California child who was uninsured-and-eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families in 2002 lived in a geographic area with uninsured-eligibility rates at or below the statewide average. Key Policy Recommendation Public and private efforts currently underway to improve the outreach and enrollment of eligible children can be complemented by statewide initiatives such as fully implementing "express lane eligibility" that automatically enrolls children who qualify for free and subsidized school lunches.

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This policy brief highlights regional variations of rates among California children ages 0-5 and ages 6-17 from limited income families (below 300% FPL) who were uninsured and not eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy families in 2001. This Web-only publication is relevant to policy makers and children health advocates who work on health access and children’s issues at the local level. These data are particularly pertinent as public-private partnerships have emerged across California to provide health care coverage for this vulnerable population. Rates of uninsured-and-not eligible children were estimated using the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001).

This policy brief highlights the geographic variations in obesity and overweight rates among California adults for counties, county-groups, Los Angeles Service Planning Areas, as well as for state legislative and Congressional districts. The first of-its-kind sub-county data are useful for policy makers, advocates, and health professionals in understanding the severity of unhealthy weight among adults throughout California and within local communities. Obesity rates were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2003), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.

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