UCLA Study Finds Fewer Non-Elderly Californians Uninsured Than Estimated by Federal Surveys

The number of non-elderly Californians without health insurance is lower than previously estimated by the federal Census Bureau, according to research released June 20, the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research interviewed more than 55,400 randomly selected households for the California Health Interview Survey, approximately 10 times more respondents than the federal Census Bureau's annual survey. UCLA researchers asked respondents whether they were currently uninsured, while census researchers questioned participants about their insurance status in the previous year (Lee, Los Angeles Times, 6/20). The UCLA study is based on data gathered in 2001 (Khan, San Jose Mercury News, 6/20). The latest Census is from 2000. The UCLA study, funded by $12 million in state and private monies, indicates that about 4.5 million state residents under age 65 are uninsured, compared with the Census estimate that 6.3 million non-elderly California residents are uninsured. Eighty percent of the 4.5 million uninsured are "chronically uninsured and deserv[e] special attention," the UCLA study says. The study finds further that nearly two million additional people, many of them between jobs, had been temporarily without insurance. The Times reports that the study dispels a "myth about the uninsured": that many people without health insurance are unemployed or young people "who don't think they need insurance." The study finds that just 10% of respondents said they "did not believe in health insurance," while many more said they could not afford or could not obtain employer-based health coverage. The research also indicates that Latinos have the state's highest rate of uninsurance; 28% of Latinos are uninsured, compared with 13% of Asians and 10% of whites and blacks. The study points to "significant gains" in enrolling people in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, California's Medicaid and CHIP programs respectively, as a "major factor" in reducing the number of uninsured (Los Angeles Times, 6/20). Previous research by UCLA, based on data from the Current Population Survey, indicated that 6.2 million residents were uninsured in 2000 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/14). Enrollment in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families grew by 500,000 people over the 10-month period of the survey last year, the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 6/20).

Reaction
Advocates for universal health care are concerned that the UCLA study's findings may promote an opinion among lawmakers and others that the issue of the uninsured is "less urgent," the Times reports. However, researchers noted that despite the lower figures, a "hefty" 15% of state residents remain uninsured. It is "not the time to be pulling back" on efforts to reduce the number of uninsured, Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of the California Endowment, said, adding that if the issue is left unaddressed, "We could see these numbers radically shift in the other direction" (Los Angeles Times, 6/20). More information about the UCLA study is available online.