BOH agenda 052715 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 | Orange County Community Health Assessment - Executive Summary Access to Health Care, Insurance, and Information The ability to access quality and affordable health care services is a key component in a person’s overall health. Health care access impacts a person’s quality and quantity of life, as it dictates when and how often a person can use the health care system to obtain preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services. There are three prerequisites to accessing health care services: 1. The ability to enter and navigate the health care system. Navigating the health care system is easier to do when a person has adequate financial resources and health insurance to pay for services. Having medical insurance can ease a person’s financial burden. 2. The ability to identify and use convenient health care locations. Gaining access to the best health care sites often requires the ability to travel within or outside the community. 3. The ability to establish a good working relationship with a medical provider where communication is easy. To form a trusting relationship with a medical provider a person must feel comfortable with communicating and asking questions, which is generally the result of having a consistent provider or medical home. Not having these essential skills or resources may lead to barriers that can keep a person from benefiting from the preventive care or treatment plans available for maintaining health. Orange County residents’ ability to get health insurance impacts all areas of their physical and mental health. Without insurance, many have problems getting needed health care and often delay or do not get care because of the cost. Although Orange County is ranked number one in the state for the ratio of primary care physicians to residents, there are limited places for low-cost or free medical care in Orange County. Access to Health People with a regular primary care doctor more often get preventive services and have fewer hospitalizations because of earlier medical care. Since the uninsured often delay care over time, they may have more serious conditions, more hospitalizations, and more disabilities when they finally seek care. Adults without health insurance have a higher chance of dying prematurely. Medical bills can cause severe financial and credit problems for the uninsured and is often the main reason why families cycle into poverty. A person’s ability to comprehend health information can contribute positively to their health behaviors and outcomes. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Health literacy extends beyond a person’s reading and writing skills to also include the ability to comprehend spoken words; to use numeracy and math skills for calculations; and to navigate the health care system.