Approximately three million people reside in San Diego County, an area with steady population growth over the past decade. On average, San Diegans enjoy higher income levels and similar rates of health insurance compared with residents of the state overall. However, the economic downturn is taking a toll, as the unemployment rate in San Diego County reached 8.6% in January 2009.

To provide more perspective on the unique challenges facing San Diego and other large health care markets in California, CHCF asked the Center for Studying Health System Change to produce a regional market study in six areas: Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. These reports are published as part of CHCF's California Health Care Almanac.

Key findings of the San Diego report include:

• The hospital market has well-defined geographic boundaries and is dominated by four large hospital systems: Sharp HealthCare, Scripps Health, Kaiser Permanente, and the University of California San Diego Medical Center
• The physician market is dominated by large multi-specialty groups, with a number of single-specialty groups also present
• Kaiser, UnitedHealthcare, and Anthem Blue Cross are the leading health plans in terms of enrollment
• The safety net is fragmented, and the county government is widely perceived as having a weak commitment to health care for low-income and uninsured residents

The complete issue brief and an executive summary are available under Document Downloads. An addendum to the brief is included under Related CHCF Pages.

Also under Related CHCF Pages is a link to the article by Kamal Muilenburg titled "San Diego Region: Is Health Reform the Answer for the Taxed Safety Net?" It provides more information about the challenges of providing care in the San Diego area.