Breaking Myths About the Uninsured:The Working Uninsured Project

San Francisco, CA, 2004

Over 43 million people in the U.S. live without health insurance and California, with 12 million, is home to the largest number of uninsured. Seventy-five percent of the uninsured under the age of 65 live in families with at least one full-time worker (20 percent are in families with two full-time workers), yet the working uninsured remains an untold story.

In 2005, KQED TV and the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium (SFCCC) joined forces to break myths of who is uninsured in San Francisco, reveal the consequences of being uninsured in this community, and show why this problem needs immediate attention from the community and policymakers. A 30-minute television documentary, hosted by Spencer Michels, was screened at outreach events to contextualize community conversations throughout the Bay Area. Working Uninsured brought to the public the reality of who is uninsured and connected San Francisco's two most uninsured communities (Latinos and Asians) with policymakers. Leveraging KQED's monthly reach to 5 million Bay Area people and SFCCC's network of clinics throughout San Francisco, the project gained the attention of the public, policymakers and other media outlets.

Serving the people of Northern California since 1954, KQED-TV's mission is to broadcast the highest quality programming that informs, educates and entertains, and is committed to extending the impact of its media resources through community partnerships.

SFCCC represents a network of San Francisco's 10 most active and culturally diverse community health clinics that serve over 65,000 low-income, uninsured and medically underserved people per year. Services are available in 20 languages—free to those who cannot pay, or on a sliding scale for those who can. SFCCC hosts a variety of regular public events for patients, health care workers and local, state and federal policymakers.

Awards:

KQED Round Four

KQED receives award at annual gala event to honor State Senator Carole Migden and KQED
— San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium

Sheraz Sadiq, Assistant Producer for Working Uninsured
— 2005 California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship to develop and research material for the project

KQED Round Three

Hope on the Street
Best Local Television for News, Educational or Public Service Programming
— National Mental Health Association 2003 Media Awards

Emmy Nomination for Best Documentary
Media Award for Community Service
— Alameda County Mental Health Board

Commendation
— San Francisco Mental Health Board

Best Documentary and Outstanding Media Award for Television Documentary
— National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

$300,000 — Eli Lilly Company

March Symposium on Mental Health
$25,000 — California Endowment
$15,000 — Zellerbach Family Foundation
$10,000 — California Wellness Foundation
$3,500 — Eli Lilly
$2,500 — United Behavioral Health
$2,000 — Johnson and Johnson
$2,000 — Telecare Corp
$1,500 — NAMI/Contra Costa

KQED Round One

California Welfare: A Community Conversation
Clarion Award for Radio Documentary, One-time, Public Radio
— Association for Women in Communications