Adolescent sedentary behaviors: correlates differ for television viewing and computer use.

Purpose: Sedentary behavior is associated with obesity in youth. Understanding correlates of specific sedentary behaviors can inform the development of interventions to reduce sedentary time. The current research examines correlates of leisure computer use and television viewing among adolescents in California.

Better outcomes, lower costs: palliative care program reduces stress, costs of care for children with life-threatening conditions.

This policy brief examines the Partners for Children (PFC) program--California's public pediatric community-based palliative care benefit to children living with life-threatening conditions and their families. Preliminary analysis of administrative and survey data indicates that participation in the PFC program improves quality of life for the child and family. In addition, participation in the program resulted in a one-third reduction in the average number of days spent in the hospital.

The Federal Poverty Level does not meet data needs of the California legislature.

This policy brief highlights results from a survey of a broad sample of the California legislature on their data and information needs, as well as their familiarity and use of various economic measures. It finds that legislative staff most often use the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) when they are making recommendations about policy and evaluating programs for low-income populations. Yet the FPL does not meet most of the criteria for economic data that legislative staff say they want.

Costs of smoking and policy strategies for California American Indian communities.

The cost of smoking has been explored for residents of the U.S. living in several states.

The impact of health care reform on California's children in immigrant families.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) restricts its health insurance expansions in ways that exclude many uninsured children in California who are immigrants or have immigrant parents. These exclusions directly limit coverage options for noncitizen children. And immigrant parents, potentially misinterpreting eligibility requirements for these new programs, may not enroll their citizen children.

Variations in self-reported provision of services by general dentists in private practice.

Background: Variations in dentists' provision of services have been documented, but information about contributing factors is limited.

Methods: The authors used responses to a 2003 survey of general dentists in private practice in California (46 percent response rate; 3,098 dentists included in the final sample) to assess variations in service provision and its correlates. They used logistic regressions to assess the correlation of various characteristics with the self-reported percentage of time spent providing services.

Food environments near home and school related to consumption of soda and fast food.

In California, more than 2 million adolescents (58%) drink soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages every day, and more than 1.6 million adolescents (46%) eat fast food at least twice a week. Adolescents who live and go to school in areas with more fast food restaurants and convenience stores than healthier food outlets such as grocery stores are more likely to consume soda and fast food than teens who live and go to school in areas with healthier food environments.

Who can participate in the California health benefit exchange? A profile of subsidy-eligible uninsured and individually insured.

About 1.71 million nonelderly Californians were uninsured for all or part of 2009 and are estimated to be eligible to participate and receive subsidies in the new California Health Benefit Exchange marketplace under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Another 737,000 are currently insured with individual policies and will also be eligible for participation in the Exchange based on their employment, income and citizenship status.

Californians newly eligible for Medi-Cal under health care reform.

About 2.13 million nonelderly Californians who were uninsured for all or part of 2009 are newly-eligible for Medi-Cal under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Analysis of the 2009 California Health Interview Survey indicates that this newly-eligible population is often single, working-age and employed.

Adolescent physical education and physical activity in California.

In California, more than 1.3 million adolescents (38%) do not participate in physical education (PE) at school, and this rate increases dramatically with age, from just 5% at age 12 to 77% at age 17. In addition, only 19% of teens meet current physical activity recommendations.

The health status and unique health challenges of rural older adults in California.

Despite living in the countryside where open space is plentiful and there is often significant agricultural production, rural older adults have higher rates of overweight/obesity, physical inactivity and food insecurity than older adults living in suburban areas. All three conditions are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and repeated falls. This policy brief examines the health of rural elders and, by contrast, their urban counterparts, and finds that both groups are more likely to be unhealthy than suburban older adults.

One-fifth of nonelderly Californians do not have access to job-based health insurance coverage.

Lack of job-based health insurance does not affect just workers, but entire families who depend on job-based coverage for their health care. This policy brief shows that in 2007 one-fifth of all Californians ages 0-64 who lived in households where at least one family member was employed did not have access to job-based coverage. Among adults with no access to job-based coverage through their own or a spouse's job, nearly two-thirds remained uninsured.

The health of aging lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in California.

Research on the health of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults generally overlooks the chronic conditions that are the most common health concerns of older adults. This brief presents unique population-level data on aging LGB adults (ages 50-70) documenting that they have higher rates of several serious chronic physical and mental health conditions compared to similar heterosexual adults. Although access to care appears similar for aging LGB and heterosexual adults, aging LGB adults generally have higher levels of mental health services use and lesbian/bisexual women report greater delays in getting needed care.

Two-thirds of California's seven million uninsured may obtain coverage under health care reform.

Almost 4.7 million nonelderly adults and children of the seven million Californians who were uninsured for all or part of 2009 will be eligible for insurance as a result of last year's health care reform legislation, according to new data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2009). Eligible Californians will obtain coverage either through Medi-Cal or through subsidies to purchase private health insurance in the new California Health Benefit Exchange (CHBE) starting in 2014.

Underinsurance in the United States: an interaction of costs to consumers, benefit design, and access to care.

Underinsurance is most commonly defined as the state in which people with medical coverage are still exposed to financial risk. We argue that the adequacy of health insurance coverage should also be assessed in terms of the adequacy of specific benefits coverage and access to care. Underinsurance can be understood conceptually as comprising three separate domains: (a) the economic features of health insurance, (b) the benefits covered, and (c) access to health services.

Income disparities in obesity trends among California adolescents.

Objectives: We assessed income-specific trends in obesity rates among a diverse population of California adolescents.

Methods: We used data from 17,535 adolescents who responded to the California Health Interview Survey between 2001 and 2007 to examine disparities in obesity prevalence by family income and gender.

Results: Between 2001 and 2007, obesity prevalence significantly increased among lower-income adolescents but showed no statistically significant differences among higher-income adolescents after adjustment for age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Nearly 2.5 million nonelderly California women uninsured at some time during 2007.

Health insurance coverage is a key component of access to the health care system. For women, such coverage facilitates access to the array of services they require across their lifetimes. This brief provides an overview of uninsured women ages 18--64 in California, examining subgroups of women at higher risk of being without coverage and looking at family incomes of uninsured women and at uninsured rates across counties.

Mental health status and use of mental health services by California adults.

In 2005, nearly one in five adults in California, about 4.9 million people, said they needed help for a mental or emotional health problem. Approximately one in 25, or over one million Californians, reported symptoms associated with serious psychological distress (SPD).

Estimated cost impacts of law to expand coverage for self-management education to children with asthma in California.

Background: The California Legislature requires health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to expand coverage for pediatric asthma self-management educational services under two scenarios: education in clinic settings (to include group education) for symptomatic children; education in clinic and community settings (to include home- or school-based education) for children with uncontrolled asthma. Objective. This study aims to determine the impacts of the bill on coverage, utilization, and costs.

Health and health care access among California women ages 50-64.

This policy brief examines the health issues and health care access of women ages 50-64.While the need for effective and accessible health care applies to all women, there are distinct social, economic and health issues within each age group. Women ages 50-64 often face new and accelerated health issues and have more concern for management of health conditions.

Outdoor air pollution and uncontrolled asthma in the San Joaquin Valley, California.

Background: The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in California ranks among the worst in the USA in terms of air quality, and its residents report some of the highest rates of asthma symptoms and asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalisations in California. Using California Health Interview Survey data, the authors examined associations between air pollution and asthma morbidity in this region.

Methods: Eligible subjects were SJV residents (2001 California Health Interview Survey) who reported physician-diagnosed asthma (n=1502, 14.