On Wednesday, the Assembly Budget Committee convened an overview hearing on the Governor’s 2022-23 Budget Proposal. The Assembly’s hearing followed an identical hearing convened by the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee last week and similarly featured presentations from the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil…
Read More »The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) this week amended three existing State Public Health Officer Orders requiring COVID-19 boosters for specified health care workers. The amended orders extend the deadline for covered health care workers to receive their booster from February 1, 2022, to March 1, 2022. According to CDPH, the change was necessary…
Read More »The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) this week released its 2022 California Health Policy Survey, its annual poll examining Californians’ views on health care affordability, housing and homelessness, experiences with health care, health care equity, and the COVID-19 pandemic. CHCF partnered with the National Opinion Research Council (NORC) at the University of Chicago to assess…
Read More »The “Yes to Protect Kids” Coalition on Thursday launched its statewide campaign to keep children safe and healthy by ending the sale of candy-flavored tobacco and nicotine products. Numerous California officials, including U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, and Board of Equalization Chair Malia Cohen, spoke during the campaign launch, highlighting the dangers…
Read More »This week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a comprehensive report as part of its series of reports examining the federal government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In its latest report, GAO sets forth five recommendations relative to pandemic funding managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), tax relief…
Read More »The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it has committed $49.4 million to fund organizations to connect more eligible children, parents, and pregnant individuals to health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Awardees, including state and local governments, tribal organizations, federal health safety net organizations, non-profits, schools,…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making available more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 7,600 providers nationwide this week. These payments follow the nearly $9 billion issued by HHS in December 2021….
Read More »The California State Senate and Assembly continue to ramp up their activities for the second year of the 2021-22 Legislative Session. Today, the Legislature met the deadline for any committee to hear and report to the floor bills introduced in that house in the odd-numbered year. These two-year bills face a limited window to remain…
Read More »The Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee on Wednesday convened an overview hearing to learn more about the Governor’s 2022-23 January Budget proposal. The committee received presentations from the Newsom Administration, primarily the Department of Finance (DOF), as well as the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). During the hearing, DOF Deputy Director Erika Li detailed the…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management convened an informational hearing on “The Impact of Ambulance Patient Offload Delays on Emergency Response.” The committee hearing, chaired by Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez, featured two panels of experts, including representatives from local EMS agencies. In his opening comments, Chair Rodriguez acknowledged the longstanding issue of ambulance…
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