Assembly Committees Explore Health Investments, CalAIM Behavioral Health Components

This week, the Assembly convened hearings related to health coverage, Medi-Cal, and behavioral health. Below, we provide a high-level summary of these hearings of interest:

Budget Subcommittee No. 1 Considers Health-Related Investments

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday convened a hearing to review proposed investments under the authority of the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), Covered California, the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency, and the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC). Among investments considered by the subcommittee were the state’s Medi-Cal budget, delays in suspensions of Proposition 56 and Medi-Cal adult optional benefits, and continuous glucose monitoring coverage.

Subcommittee members received presentations from representatives from DHCS and Covered California, as well as the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). All items were held open for action at a later date.

The hearing agenda is available here. A video recording of the hearing is available here.

Joint Hearing on CalAIM Behavioral Health Proposals

On Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee and the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 convened a joint informational hearing to assess the behavioral health components of the proposed California Advancing and Improving Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Initiative.

The hearing featured a brief overview of the proposed programmatic and policy changes from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and included input from various representatives, including from the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California (CBHDA) and the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies. The joint hearing covered numerous areas related to behavioral health services, such as changes to behavioral health medical necessity criteria and specialty mental health services, behavioral health payment reform, Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS), and full integration plans, among other topics.

Next week, the Assembly Health Committee and Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 will convene another joint informational hearing to review the Medi-Cal eligibility, benefits, and managed care components of the CalAIM Initiative.

The agenda from Tuesday’s hearing is available here. A background paper on the subject is available here. A video recording of the hearing is accessible here.