CHCF is updating a series of market studies in six areas: Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. These regional market reports highlight variations in health care affordability, access, and quality of care across the state. The reports are published as part of the CHCF California Health Care Almanac, an online clearinghouse for key data and analysis examining California's medical system.

Key findings of the Sacramento report include:

• Mostly stable over the last three years, Sacramento's local economy is greatly influenced by the presence of state government. Residents have slightly higher education and income levels and a higher proportion of private health insurance than other regions studied.
• Several powerful hospital systems still dominate the market and lead innovation in health plan-provider collaborations.
• Most Sacramento hospital systems report strong operating margins. Yet pressure to contain costs has come from the economic downturn and the growing number of uninsured.
• Declining county revenues and budgets have led to reductions in state and county health programs and staff, at the same time that demands on these programs has increased.

The complete 2012 issue brief, as well as the 2009 edition, is available under Document Downloads.