This dataset contains the geographic Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) federal designations for Primary Care, Mental Health, and Dental Health. This California-specific data is a subset and snapshot of the complete national data maintained by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). For the full set of variables and most up-to-date information, visit https://data.hrsa.gov/data/download.

This indicator provides information about medically underserved areas and/or populations (MUA/Ps), as determined by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Each designated area includes multiple census tracts.State Primary Care Offices submit applications to HRSA to designate specific areas within counties as MUA/Ps. The MUA/P designation is made using the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) score, which includes four components: provider per 1,000 population, percent of population under poverty, percent of population ages 65 years and older, and infant mortality rate. The IMU scores ranges from 0-100. Lower scores indicate higher needs. An IMU score of 62 or below qualifies for designation as an MUA/P. Note: if an area is not designated as an MUA/P, it does not mean it is not underserved, only that an application has not been filed for the area and that official designation has not been given.The MUAs within Los Angeles County consist of groups of urban census tracts (namely service areas). MUPs have a shortage of primary care health services for a specific population within a geographic area. These populations may face economic, cultural, or language barriers to health care, such as: people experiencing homelessness, people who are low-income, people who are eligible for Medicaid, Native Americans, or migrant farm workers. All the MUPs that have been designated within Los Angeles County are among low-income populations of selected census tract groups. Due to the nature of the designation process, a census tract may be designated as both an MUA and an MUP and as multiple MUAs. MUA/P designations help establish health maintenance organizations or community health centers in high-need areas.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

This polygon shapefile contains areas of medically underserved populations (MUP) in California. The federal MUP designation is used when an area does not meet the established medicall underserved areas (MUA) criteria. The process involves assembling the same data elements and carrying out the same computational steps as stated for MUAs (for V1, V2 and V3). The difference is the population to physician ratio (V4) as follows: 1) For V4, the population is now the population of the requested group within the area rather than the total resident civilian population of the area. 2) The number of FTE primary care physicians would include only those serving the requested population group (V4). If the total of weighted values V1 - V4 is 62.0 or less, the population group qualifies for designation as a MUP and you complete the process as for the MUA. Benefits of MUP designation: 1) Eligibility to develop community health centers, migrant health centers, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and FQHC look-alikes. The cost-based reimbursement of these programs is designed to enhance access to primary health care in medically underserved areas. 2) Enhanced federal grant eligibility. Legislation: Original legislation enacted by Congress in 1970s, Section 330 of the U.S. Public Health Service Act (as amended); 2002 Health Care Safety Net Amendments authorized automatic facility HPSA process for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), and Rural Health Centers (RHC). Authorizes the Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to designate shortage areas delegated to Health Resources and Services Administration/Bureau of Health Professions/ National Center for Health Workforce Analysis/Shortage Designation Branch. This is version 6 of this data (updated: 2010). This layer is part of the Healthcare Atlas of California.

This is the current Medical Service Study Area. California Medical Service Study Areas are created by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI).Check the Data Dictionary for field descriptions.Search for the Medical Service Study Area data on the CHHS Open Data Portal.Checkout the California Healthcare Atlas for more Medical Service Study Area information.This is an update to the MSSA geometries and demographics to reflect the new 2020 Census tract data. The Medical Service Study Area (MSSA) polygon layer represents the best fit mapping of all new 2020 California census tract boundaries to the original 2010 census tract boundaries used in the construction of the original 2010 MSSA file. Each of the state's new 9,129 census tracts was assigned to one of the previously established medical service study areas (excluding tracts with no land area), as identified in this data layer. The MSSA Census tract data is aggregated by HCAI, to create this MSSA data layer. This represents the final re-mapping of 2020 Census tracts to the original 2010 MSSA geometries. The 2010 MSSA were based on U.S. Census 2010 data and public meetings held throughout California.Source of update: American Community Survey 5-year 2006-2010 data for poverty. For source tables refer to InfoUSA update procedural documentation. The 2010 MSSA Detail layer was developed to update fields affected by population change. The American Community Survey 5-year 2006-2010 population data pertaining to total, in households, race, ethnicity, age, and poverty was used in the update. The 2010 MSSA Census Tract Detail map layer was developed to support geographic information systems (GIS) applications, representing 2010 census tract geography that is the foundation of 2010 medical service study area (MSSA) boundaries. ***This version is the finalized MSSA reconfiguration boundaries based on the US Census Bureau 2010 Census. In 1976 Garamendi Rural Health Services Act, required the development of a geographic framework for determining which parts of the state were rural and which were urban, and for determining which parts of counties and cities had adequate health care resources and which were "medically underserved". Thus, sub-city and sub-county geographic units called "medical service study areas [MSSAs]" were developed, using combinations of census-defined geographic units, established following General Rules promulgated by a statutory commission. After each subsequent census the MSSAs were revised. In the scheduled revisions that followed the 1990 census, community meetings of stakeholders (including county officials, and representatives of hospitals and community health centers) were held in larger metropolitan areas. The meetings were designed to develop consensus as how to draw the sub-city units so as to best display health care disparities. The importance of involving stakeholders was heightened in 1992 when the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Health and Resources Administration entered a formal agreement to recognize the state-determined MSSAs as "rational service areas" for federal recognition of "health professional shortage areas" and "medically underserved areas". After the 2000 census, two innovations transformed the process, and set the stage for GIS to emerge as a major factor in health care resource planning in California. First, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development [OSHPD], which organizes the community stakeholder meetings and provides the staff to administer the MSSAs, entered into an Enterprise GIS contract. Second, OSHPD authorized at least one community meeting to be held in each of the 58 counties, a significant number of which were wholly rural or frontier counties. For populous Los Angeles County, 11 community meetings were held. As a result, health resource data in California are collected and organized by 541 geographic units. The boundaries of these units were established by community healthcare experts, with the objective of maximizing their usefulness for needs assessment purposes. The most dramatic consequence was introducing a data simultaneously displayed in a GIS format. A two-person team, incorporating healthcare policy and GIS expertise, conducted the series of meetings, and supervised the development of the 2000-census configuration of the MSSAs.MSSA Configuration Guidelines (General Rules):- Each MSSA is composed of one or more complete census tracts.- As a general rule, MSSAs are deemed to be "rational service areas [RSAs]" for purposes of designating health professional shortage areas [HPSAs], medically underserved areas [MUAs] or medically underserved populations [MUPs].- MSSAs will not cross county lines.- To the extent practicable, all census-defined places within the MSSA are within 30 minutes travel time to the largest population center within the MSSA, except in those circumstances where meeting this criterion would require splitting a census tract.- To the extent practicable, areas that, standing alone, would meet both the definition of an MSSA and a Rural MSSA, should not be a part of an Urban MSSA.- Any Urban MSSA whose population exceeds 200,000 shall be divided into two or more Urban MSSA Subdivisions.- Urban MSSA Subdivisions should be within a population range of 75,000 to 125,000, but may not be smaller than five square miles in area. If removing any census tract on the perimeter of the Urban MSSA Subdivision would cause the area to fall below five square miles in area, then the population of the Urban MSSA may exceed 125,000. - To the extent practicable, Urban MSSA Subdivisions should reflect recognized community and neighborhood boundaries and take into account such demographic information as income level and ethnicity. Rural Definitions: A rural MSSA is an MSSA adopted by the Commission, which has a population density of less than 250 persons per square mile, and which has no census defined place within the area with a population in excess of 50,000. Only the population that is located within the MSSA is counted in determining the population of the census defined place. A frontier MSSA is a rural MSSA adopted by the Commission which has a population density of less than 11 persons per square mile. Any MSSA which is not a rural or frontier MSSA is an urban MSSA. Last updated December 6th 2024.

This dataset contains the geographies used to study medical service in California and identifies which areas are designated as Primary Care Shortage Areas (PCSA). PCSAs are approved by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (Commission). The Commission plans to reassess the PCSA designations in 2023.

Medical Service Study Areas - Census Detail, 2010California Health & Human Services Agency Open Data Portal DescriptionMedical Service Study Areas (MSSAs) are sub-city and sub-county geographical units used to organize and display population, demographic and physician data. MSSAs were developed in 1976 by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (formerly California Health Manpower Policy Commission) to respond to legislative mandates requiring it to determine "areas of unmet priority need for primary care family physicians" (Song-Brown Act of 1973) and "geographical rural areas where unmet priority need for medical services exist" (Garamendi Rural Health Services Act of 1976).MSSAs are recognized by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions' Office of Shortage Designation as rational service areas for purposes of designating Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), and Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Populations (MUAs/MUPs).The MSSAs incorporate the U.S. Census total population, socioeconomic and demographic data and are updated with each decadal census. Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development provides updated data for each County's MSSAs to the County and Communities, and will schedule meetings for areas of significant population change. Community meetings will be scheduled throughout the State as needed.Adopted by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission on May 15, 2002.Each MSSA is composed of one or more complete census tracts. MSSAs will not cross county lines. All population centers within the MSSA are within 30 minutes travel time to the largest population center.Urban MSSA - Population range 75,000 to 125,000. Reflect recognized community and neighborhood boundaries. Similar demographic and socio-economic characteristics.Rural MSSA - Population density of less than 250 persons per square mile. No population center exceeds 50,000.Frontier MSSA - Population density of less than 11 persons per square mile.

Medical Service Study Areas - Census Detail, 2010California Health & Human Services Agency Open Data Portal DescriptionMedical Service Study Areas (MSSAs) are sub-city and sub-county geographical units used to organize and display population, demographic and physician data. MSSAs were developed in 1976 by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (formerly California Health Manpower Policy Commission) to respond to legislative mandates requiring it to determine "areas of unmet priority need for primary care family physicians" (Song-Brown Act of 1973) and "geographical rural areas where unmet priority need for medical services exist" (Garamendi Rural Health Services Act of 1976).MSSAs are recognized by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions' Office of Shortage Designation as rational service areas for purposes of designating Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), and Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Populations (MUAs/MUPs).The MSSAs incorporate the U.S. Census total population, socioeconomic and demographic data and are updated with each decadal census. Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development provides updated data for each County's MSSAs to the County and Communities, and will schedule meetings for areas of significant population change. Community meetings will be scheduled throughout the State as needed.Adopted by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission on May 15, 2002.Each MSSA is composed of one or more complete census tracts. MSSAs will not cross county lines. All population centers within the MSSA are within 30 minutes travel time to the largest population center.Urban MSSA - Population range 75,000 to 125,000. Reflect recognized community and neighborhood boundaries. Similar demographic and socio-economic characteristics.Rural MSSA - Population density of less than 250 persons per square mile. No population center exceeds 50,000.Frontier MSSA - Population density of less than 11 persons per square mile.

Analysis of ‘MSSA 2010c1 public’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/9130d72b-b06e-4c01-911c-20d0eb0a79a6 on 27 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Medical Service Study Areas - Census Detail, 2010

Medical Service Study Areas (MSSAs) are sub-city and sub-county geographical units used to organize and display population, demographic and physician data. MSSAs were developed in 1976 by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (formerly California Health Manpower Policy Commission) to respond to legislative mandates requiring it to determine "areas of unmet priority need for primary care family physicians" (Song-Brown Act of 1973) and "geographical rural areas where unmet priority need for medical services exist" (Garamendi Rural Health Services Act of 1976).

MSSAs are recognized by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions' Office of Shortage Designation as rational service areas for purposes of designating Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), and Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Populations (MUAs/MUPs).

The MSSAs incorporate the U.S. Census total population, socioeconomic and demographic data and are updated with each decadal census. Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development provides updated data for each County's MSSAs to the County and Communities, and will schedule meetings for areas of significant population change. Community meetings will be scheduled throughout the State as needed.

Adopted by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission on May 15, 2002.

Each MSSA is composed of one or more complete census tracts. MSSAs will not cross county lines. All population centers within the MSSA are within 30 minutes travel time to the largest population center.

Urban MSSA - Population range 75,000 to 125,000. Reflect recognized community and neighborhood boundaries. Similar demographic and socio-economic characteristics.

Rural MSSA - Population density of less than 250 persons per square mile. No population center exceeds 50,000.

Frontier MSSA - Population density of less than 11 persons per square mile.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

This indicator provides information about health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) for mental health services as determined by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Each designated area includes multiple census tracts.HPSAs can be geographic areas, populations, or health care facilities that have been designated as having a shortage of health professionals. Geographic HPSAs have a shortage of providers for an entire population in a defined geographic area. Population HPSAs have a shortage of providers for a subpopulation in a defined geographic area, such as low-income populations, people experiencing homelessness, and migrant farmworker populations. In Los Angeles County, facility HPSAs include:•Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs); •FQHC Look-A-Likes (LALs); •Indian Health Service, Tribal Health, and Urban Indian Health Organizations; •correctional facilities; • and some other facilities. For these indicators, we include HPSAs in Los Angeles County with statuses listed as “Designated” or “Proposed for Withdrawal” (but not withdrawn yet). Due to the nature of the designation process, a census tract may be designated as any combination of geographic and population HPSAs and three categories of care (i.e., primary, dental, and mental health care). Facility HPSAs may also cover multiple types of care.State Primary Care Offices submit applications to HRSA to designate certain areas within counties as HPSAs for primary care, dental, and mental health services. HRSA’s National Health Service Corps calculates HPSA scores to determine priorities for assignment of clinicians. The scores range from 0 to 25 for mental health, where higher scores indicate greater priority. All HPSA categories shared three scoring criteria: (1) population-to-provider ratio, (2) percent of population below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level, and (3) travel time to the nearest source of care outside the HPSA designation area. Each category also has additional criteria that go into the scores. Specifically, mental health HPSA scoring includes elderly ratio (percent of people over age 65), youth ratio (percent of people under age 18), alcohol abuse prevalence, and substance abuse prevalence. Note: if an area is not designated as an HPSA, it does not mean it is not underserved, only that an application has not been filed for the area and that an official designation has not been given.HPSA designations help distribute participating health care providers and resources to high-need communities.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

This dataset identifies which census tracts comprise the various geographies used to study the healthcare workforce. Medical Service Study Areas (MSSA) are sub-county geographies used to study medical service in California. Registered Nurse (RN) Areas, which can cross county lines, are used to study the RN workforce. These custom geographies are approved by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission.

Medicare is an important public health insurance scheme for U.S. adults aged 65 years and over. As of 2023, an estimated 18.9 percent of the U.S. population was covered by Medicare, an increase from the previous year. As of 2021, California, Florida, and Texas had the largest number of adults aged 65 years and older. The Medicare program Medicare has two primary parts: Medicare Part A covers hospital care and Medicare Part B covers medical and preventative services. Both parts of Medicare are available to those aged 65 years and older under certain conditions. Medicare premiums are variable and depend on the enrollee’s income. Despite a majority of the Medicare enrollees being above the federal poverty line, there are still several programs in place to help cover the costs of healthcare for the elderly. Opinions on elderly care in the U.S. It is estimated that about 23 percent of Medicare enrollees are in fair/poor health. But there are lots of questions about who should pay for or help with elderly care long-term. In a recent survey of U.S. adults, about half of the respondents said that health insurance companies should pay for elderly care. However, a majority of adults also supported a long-term government sponsored health plan like Medicaid. The issue is still hotly debated and politicized in the United States.