“Dissatisfaction with mental health care is high among Californians, especially those who have direct experience with the system,” reported the California Health Care Foundation in its 2024 CHCF California Health Policy Survey. “Specifically, two in three Californians believe improvement is needed in the treatment of people with serious mental illness (SMI), with 42% saying “significant” improvement is needed. Among those who say that they or someone close to them has needed treatment for SMI, 63% say “significant” improvement is needed.”

This is just one of the important findings in this survey, which was released on January 31. Among the other highlights, quoted directly from the report are: 

• More Than One in Three Californians Overall and One in Two Californians with Low Incomes Have Medical Debt.

• One in four Californians (26%) find it “somewhat” or “very” difficult to access high-quality, affordable health care for them and their families. Californians with low incomes (45%) are more likely to say it is “somewhat” or “very” difficult to access high-quality, affordable health care than Californians with higher incomes (20%)

• There were mixed reports about the progress the state has made in achieving racial equity in health care. While 42% of Californians believe the state has made “a great deal” or “some” progress in achieving racial and ethnic equity in the health care system in recent years, 45% of Californians say that the health care system “regularly” or “occasionally” treats people unfairly because of their race and 67% of Black Californians reported that the health care system “regularly” or “occasionally” treats people unfairly because of their race.

• Eight in ten Californians Identify Reducing the Amount of Money People Pay for Care and Increasing Access to Mental Health Treatment as “Extremely” or “Very” important priorities for Policymakers in 2024

The research for the report was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, a nonprofit public opinion research center. While every state is different, it’s worth noting that about one in eight residents of the US live in California.

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