Health Equity - California Health Care Foundation

Health Equity
All Californians should have the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential for health. CHCF is working with a wide range of partners to remove structural barriers to care and build a just and equitable health care system that is designed to redress, not perpetuate, the inequities that too many of our fellow Californians face.

Learn about CHCF’s approach to building health equity in California

Primary Care’s Essential Role in Advancing Health Equity for California

This report surveys the research linking primary care to improved health equity. It includes 14 example recommendations to strengthen primary care and to advance equity in California across five key areas.

New Analysis Sums Up How to Measure Health Equity

National Committee for Quality Assurance

Health Equity, Medi-Cal

This policy brief is part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance's larger work examining quality measurement for Medicaid programs.

Perspective: Racism in Academic Medicine Is Hindering Progress Toward Health Equity

Health Equity, Workforce

We cannot achieve health equity for Black patients without expanding the Black physician workforce, and the nation’s medical institutions are not achieving that goal.

Perspective: Racism in Academic Medicine Is Hindering Progress Toward Health Equity

February 17, 2023

Health Equity, Workforce

We cannot achieve health equity for Black patients without expanding the Black physician workforce, and the nation’s medical institutions are not achieving that goal.

New CHCF Poll Shows Californians’ Concerns About Obtaining Home-Based Supports

February 16, 2023

Health Equity, Medi-Cal, Older Adults with Complex Needs, Workforce

From personal experience, Californians are acutely aware of our health systems’ weaknesses serving older adults and others with chronic illnesses or disabilities.

Getting Out of Prison Is ‘Terrifying’

February 13, 2023

Nisi Marie Wilder, J. Duncan Moore, Jr.

Medi-Cal, Behavioral Health, Health Equity

A Californian recounts her experience of being released from incarceration before her Medi-Cal coverage kicked in.

Advancing Midwifery and Birth Equity in California

February 1, 2023

Silvina Martinez

Maternal Health, Health Equity, Workforce

Midwives assist people with low- to moderate-risk pregnancies and are a growing component of the maternity workforce in California.

New Rules to Let Inmates Enroll in Medi-Cal Before They Leave Prison or Jail

January 11, 2023

Medi-Cal, Health Equity

Although jail and prison inmates are eligible for Medi-Cal after release, they often have long waits before health services begin. The change is expected to improve care and reduce expensive emergency room visits.

Reflections on CalAIM’s First Year

January 9, 2023

Medi-Cal, Health Equity, Behavioral Health, Data Exchange, Homelessness & Health Care

A review of what CalAIM has already undertaken and a look over the horizon at what is still to come.

Street Medicine in California: ‘Go to the People’

December 12, 2022

Avram Goldstein

Homelessness & Health Care, Behavioral Health, Health Equity

California’s persistent homelessness crisis has fueled rapid growth in community street medicine programs dedicated to bringing health care and social services to unsheltered people.

California Lacks Black Doctors. Here’s How the State Can Add More

November 2, 2022

Health Equity, Workforce

Many Black Californians say they have been treated unfairly or felt disrespected by a health care provider because of their race or ethnicity. A recent CHCF study found that increasing the number of Black doctors is the best solution.

Helping Californians Dial In to Equitable Health Access

October 11, 2022

Telehealth, Health Equity

A conversation with telehealth policy expert Mei Wa Kwong of the Center for Connected Health Policy.

Birth Equity

Health Equity, Maternal Health

Improving Birth Equity in California’s Health Care System is a quality-improvement initiative designed to improve birth care, experiences, and outcomes for, by, and with Black mothers and birthing people in California.

Advancing Latino/x Health Equity

The California Health Care Foundation is focused on advancing policies and practices that will improve timely access to high-quality primary, specialty, and mental health care for Latino/x Californians and eliminate avoidable differences in health outcomes.

Listening to Black Californians: How the Health Care System Undermines Their Pursuit of Good Health

Linda Cummings, PhD

To identify solutions for dismantling persistent health inequities among Black Californians, CHCF commissioned a study that listens deeply to Black Californians talking about their experiences with racism and health care. This report summarizes in-depth interviews with 100 Black Californians and 18 focus groups, as well as a statewide survey of 3,325 adult Black Californians.