CHIS in Action 2018

California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation’s largest state health survey, continued to play a significant role in informing health policies and highlighting health issues of state and national importance in 2018. Examples:

• CHIS diabetes data on American Indian/Alaska Natives to illustrate health disparities in testimony about funding of the Indian Health Service before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
• Analysis on prediabetes based on CHIS was used to inform a California law that requires healthier default beverage choices for kids’ meals served at restaurants.
• CalSIM, the microsimulation model that uses CHIS data, provided supporting evidence in analysis of two California bills (SB974 and AB2965) that aimed to expand Medi-Cal to adults in the state, including the undocumented population.
• CHIS survey questions were expanded to gauge what long-term supports are being used by the state’s elders to help guide future state policy.
• Our analysis of ‘public charge’ rule changes, which includes CHIS data, were cited in official comments by U.S. Senator Kamala Harris and Nanette Diaz Barragán, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and advocacy groups such as the California Latino Legislative Caucus, The California Endowment, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Health Access and Western Center on Law & Poverty. State Assemblyman Rob Bonta cited data from our analysis in a Capitol Weekly op-ed article. 

This fact sheet gives an overview of legislation, training, government studies, health advocacy group publications, and policy reports and journal articles by Center researchers and other academic researchers that used CHIS data in 2018. AskCHIS and AskCHIS NE users made more than 143,500 queries in 2018, proving the value of CHIS data to those passionate about understanding and improving public health and reducing health disparities. Since 2003, more than 69,200 registered AskCHIS and AskCHIS NE users have made 1.44 million queries, and more than 44,701 public use data files have been downloaded by researchers and others seeking reliable, credible data on the health of Californians.

Publication Authors:

• UCLA Center for Health Policy Research