Quality of Life: Health and Health Care

Quality, accessible and affordable health care is essential to the wellbeing of every Californian.  Health indicators reflect whether Californians are healthier over time, if they have access to necessary care through insurance, are engaging in a healthy lifestyle and if medical care is improving the odds of beating disease.  Please click here for a pdf of the full set of indicators on health and health care.

  • From 1991 to 2004, infant mortality rates declined from 6.9 to 4.9, putting California at 7th in the nation.  The national average is 6.9.  This progress masks dramatic disparities by race, however.  The infant mortality rate for Blacks is 10.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, more than twice the overall rate in California.
  • One in five Californians does not have health insurance.  Some 50 percent of California residents receive health coverage through an employer, 20 percent receive coverage through a publicly funded program such as Medi-Cal or Medicare, and 9 percent purchase care directly from an insurer.  The rest, or 22 percent of all Californians, do not have health coverage.
  • California is ranked 41st in the nation for the percent of residents with some form of health insurance.  In the leading states, including Minnesota, Hawaii and Wisconsin, just 10 percent of residents go without health insurance.
  • One in seven children in California does not have health insurance.  Thirty percent of the children in California are enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for poor and disabled families, but an additional 13.6 percent of all children have no health coverage.  The state is ranked 50th in the nation for the percent of children with health insurance.
  • Between 1995 and 2006, immunization rates in California increased from 58 percent to 80 percent.  Despite these gains, California's immunization rate indicates that one in five children goes without recommended immunizations, ranking California near the middle of all states, or 28th in the nation.
  • From 1984 to 2006, tobacco use in California declined from 25 percent of all adults to 13 percent.  According to national data, California has the second lowest rate of cigarette use in the nation after Utah.  Between 1996 and 2006, smoking among California's teens has been on the decline.  In 1996, 27.8 percent of California's 10th graders smoked.
  • California is not making progress in addressing obesity.  In 2001, 19.3 percent of adults and 12.4 percent of adolescents were obese.  In 2005, those percentages increased to 21.2 percent of adults and 14.2 percent of adolescents.
  • Fifty-six percent of all adults in California are overweight or obese.  Rates are greatest for Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans, ranging between 64 and 66 percent.  Those rates are lower for Whites and Asians, at 54 and 33 percent respectively.  The consequences of an unhealthy weight include increased risks of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
  • Thirty-six percent of California adults engage in regular and vigorous physical activity, such as sports, running or bicycling.    But 23 percent report no regular physical activity at all.