On Monday, President Donald Trump released his Administration’s proposed FY 2020 budget, amounting to a record $4.75 trillion plan that increases military and defense spending while significantly cutting health, environmental, and education spending. Notably, spending on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is slated for a 12 percent cut, which includes a $750…
Read More »On Thursday, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services began hearing proposals under three state departments. Under the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), department leaders detailed proposals for additional staffing in response to various measures passed last year. The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) did…
Read More »On Monday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services began their work to hear budget issues related to the various departments. This hearing featured a State of the State’s Public Health by Dr. Karen Smith, State Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and a budget…
Read More »The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently published its analysis of the use of Proposition 56 tobacco tax revenues in Medi-Cal to improve access to quality care. The LAO examines financing and access and quality care monitoring under the Medi-Cal program and summarizes how Proposition 56 funding has been used in the Medi-Cal Program to…
Read More »Yesterday, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee convened a hearing to discuss affordable housing and homelessness in California. During the hearing, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) began with framing the housing affordability and homelessness issue in California, sharing several high-level details also provided in their recently published reports (see below). The LAO indicated that…
Read More »On Thursday, the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee convened an informational hearing on Medi-Cal coverage expansions and prescription drug affordability: Medi-Cal Expansion The hearing featured a presentation from Laurel Lucia from the UC Berkeley Labor Center, detailing California’s current landscape of health care coverage and gaps as identified in their recently released report, “Toward…
Read More »On Monday, a joint Assembly Health, Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1, Senate Health, and Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 hearing, chaired respectively by Assembly Member Wood, Assembly Member Arambula, and Senator Pan, convened to explore health insurance affordability challenges in the individual market. Dr. Wood, in his opening remarks, commented on the great success California has had…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released its analysis of Governor Gavin Newsom’s FY 2019-20 budget proposal related to Medi-Cal. The governor’s budget estimates the Medi-Cal budget at $20.7 billion General Fund ($98.5 billion total funds) in 2018-19, which is a significant $2.3 billion General Fund downward adjustment relative to the 2018-19 Budget Act….
Read More »The California Legislature continues to ramp up its activities for the 2019-20 Legislative Session with a steady stream of bill introductions and the continuation of issue-based overview hearings. This week, two budget committee hearings were convened to discuss topics that will be deliberated throughout the current session. Assembly Budget Committee Hearing on FY 2019-20 Budget…
Read More »On Thursday, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee convened their first hearing on Governor Newsom’s FY 2019-20 Proposed Budget. Opening the hearing, Committee Chair Holly Mitchell provided brief remarks regarding the Newsom Administration’s extensive investments in education and health and human services proposals, as well as its prudent approach to paying down state liabilities…
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