Under the Connerly initiative, Los Angeles County would not have been able to collect the kind of data that identified this problem, and they would not have been able to conduct the targeted outreach. Public health officers might as well be blindfolded with their hands tied. There are programs up and down the state that would not exist if the Connerly Initiative were law, either because the need for them would not have been discovered without quality data, or because public bodies would not be allowed to act. These include programs to prevent diabetes in Los Angeles, prevent teen suicides in San Diego, and increase health insurance rates in San Francisco. These are all effective programs that prevent disease and lower the costs of healthcare and health insurance for all Californians. Doctors, health officers and experts across California understand the importance of allowing researchers to collect information unfettered by political constraints. This initiative would limit health care providers" ability to understand health conditions that affect populations differently and to design effective targeted. If Connerly's ban on information initiative passes, these agencies will no longer provide health professionals with this vital data, who will no longer be able to use it to devise effective disease management strategies or interventions.
Community clinics and health centers (CCHCs) utilize race and ethnicity data in a variety of ways to improve health care for their patients. CCHCs depend on data by race and ethnicity to analyze health disparities in their community, to design targeted interventions for eliminating these disparities, to create health education campaigns for different communities, and to assess community needs. Without public data documenting community needs, CCHCs would be at a significant disadvantage when applying for federal and private funding to address health disparities.
