Recently, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) received approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a one-year extension of California’s Section 1115 Medi-Cal 2020 demonstration waiver. Recall, DHCS requested an extension of the waiver in mid-2020 amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, included in the approved extension is a…
Read More »This week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced two appointments to the First 5 California Children and Families Commission. CHEAC Secretary/Treasurer and Monterey County Health Department Director Elsa Jimenez was appointed to the commission as the commission’s public health representative. Jimenez has served in her current role in Monterey County since 2016 and has been with the…
Read More »This week, the Newsom Administration released the California Master Plan for Aging, a comprehensive framework to prepare the state for significant demographic changes in the years ahead, including the growth of the 60-and-over population to 10.8 million people by 2030. The Master Plan was initiated by an Executive Order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom in…
Read More »California State Auditor Elaine Howle this week released an audit report entitled, “Proposition 56 Tobacco Tax: State Agencies’ Weak Administration Reduced Revenue by Millions of Dollars and Led to the Improper Use and Inadequate Disclosure of Funds.” Auditor Howle determined that the Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) did not ensure the accuracy of…
Read More »Children Now is set to release the California County Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being on January 26. The report will include 39 data sets and will be broken out by race and ethnicity, where applicable. Children Now additionally will be offering scorecard technical assistance webinars and trainings following the release of the report. Children Now will…
Read More »On Monday after months of stalled negotiations, Congress passed a sweeping $2.3 trillion spending measure containing $1.4 trillion in governmental appropriations for fiscal year 2021, as well as $900 billion in additional COVID-19 relief. Over the weekend, Congressional leaders broke the stalemate, ultimately leading to the spending bill’s passage in both chambers of Congress on…
Read More »On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced his selection of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to be the next United States Senator from California, filling the term being vacated by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. Padilla was first sworn in as California’s Secretary of State in January 2015 after serving in the California State Senate and…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) announced the federal government will purchase an additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. Under the agreement, Pfizer will manufacture and deliver up to 100 million doses of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to government designated locations. Pfizer must…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield announced the U.S. jurisdictions have now reported that more than one million people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since administration began 10 days ago. During a press conference today, California Governor Gavin Newsom indicated nearly 130,000 Californians have…
Read More »This week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a supplement to its State Public Health Officer Order requiring non-essential work, movement, and gatherings to cease between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am in Tier 1 (Purple/Widespread) counties. Recall, the state issued its limited stay-at-home order in mid-November amid rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations….
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