A large portion of all respondents who reported wanting to see a physician or other health care professional since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic did not receive care. Notably, many respondents (31%) did not receive urgent or emergency care for a health problem unrelated to COVID-19.

Even larger shares of respondents did not receive care for a nonurgent physical health problem (45%) or mental health problem (44%).

Survey respondents with low incomes were also more likely to report that their mental or emotional health got “worse” (30%) or “a lot worse” (6%) since the start of the pandemic than did respondents with higher incomes (27% “worse,” 1% “a lot worse”). Survey respondents with higher incomes were more likely to report no change in their mental or emotional health (62%) compared to respondents with low incomes (44%).

Telehealth was an important source of care for Californians who received care during the pandemic. Sixty-five percent of survey respondents with low incomes and 62% of respondents overall reported that they had a telehealth (phone or video) visit. Forty-three percent of respondents with low incomes reported having a phone visit, and 34% reporting having a video visit.

Three in four respondents of color (76%) who received care during the pandemic received a telehealth visit compared to less than half of White respondents (48%). Nearly equal percentages of respondents of color received care by video (47%) or by phone (46%).

Among survey respondents overall who received telehealth visits, satisfaction with them compared favorably to in-person visits. Among those who received care by phone, 24% of respondents overall reported they were “more satisfied” with their phone visit than with their last in-person visit, and 48% reported they were “just as satisfied.” Twenty-eight percent reported that they were “less satisfied” with their phone visit.

Among those who received care by video, one-third of respondents overall (33%) reported they were “more satisfied” with their video visit than with their last in-person visit, and one-third (32%) reported they were “just as satisfied.” Thirty percent of respondents overall reported that they were “less satisfied” with their video visit.

Concern about the health or well-being of a loved one was the most reported stress for respondents with low incomes and higher incomes, with over half of respondents (53%) experiencing this stress. Respondents with low incomes were more likely to report experiencing stress related to affording basic needs, such as food, rent, and utilities (50%), children out of school or childcare unavailable (38%), and the death of a loved one (10%) than respondents with higher incomes (18% for affording basic needs, 30% for childcare, 4% for death of a loved one).

The survey asked respondents a number of questions about their personal experiences with racial or ethnic discrimination and the impacts of any racial or ethnic discrimination on their health. Nearly 7 in 10 Black respondents (69%) reported ever personally experiencing discrimination or being treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. More than 4 in 10 Asian (43%) and Latinx respondents (43%) reported ever personally experiencing discrimination.

Younger respondents, especially those age 18 to 24, were more likely to report experiencing racial or ethnic discrimination (57%) than older age groups (25% to 41%).

About the Authors

This report was written by Jen Joynt, independent health care consultant. Research was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC). NORC is an objective nonpartisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. The survey and data analysis were led by Rebecca Catterson, MPH, senior research director at NORC and Lucy Rabinowitz, MPH, principal research analyst at NORC. For more information, visit www.norc.org.