On Monday, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published a report detailing the Newsom Administration’s sweeping California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) proposal to transform the state’s Medi-Cal program. The LAO’s report provides an overview of the primary components to be reformed through the CalAIM proposal, including: Increasing Focus on Medi-Cal’s High-Cost, High-Risk Enrollees – The…
Read More »The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published a report this week exploring the taxation of electronic cigarettes as proposed by Governor Gavin Newsom’s FY 2020-21 Budget. The report details the current taxes levied on electronic cigarette products, analyzes the Governor’s proposal, and poses several areas for consideration by the Legislature as its budget subcommittees begin their…
Read More »The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) recently released its report examining the Governor’s 2020-21 Medi-Cal Budget, which proposes to invest $25.9 billion General Fund ($103.5 billion total funds) in 2020-21 representing a $2.9 billion (12.4 percent) increase over estimated 2019-20 levels. According to the LAO, the increase is largely due to workload budget adjustments, as well…
Read More »Governor Newsom has released a number of cannabis related proposals as part of his 2020-21 budget package including changing how cannabis taxes are collected in California and consolidating cannabis licensing functions into a new State Department. Last week, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released a brief analysis of these proposals and were generally supportive of…
Read More »This week, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) issued two reports related to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed investments included in the 2020-21 proposed budget. The reports play a key role as the Legislature begins holding budget committee hearings over the coming weeks and months to examine proposed investments across various program areas and topics. The LAO’s…
Read More »The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) recently published its report “Ready or Not 2020: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism,” which provides an annual assessment of states’ level of readiness to respond to public health emergencies and recommends policy actions to ensure the public’s health is protected during such events. The 2020…
Read More »This week, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research published its draft interim report of the Whole Person Care (WPC) Program, finding significant progress in establishing crucial data systems and core infrastructure needed to coordinate services for WPC clients. This infrastructure includes processes to support effective care coordination among county and community-based providers, development of…
Read More »On Monday, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published its report, “The 2020-21 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Budget,” which details significant investments, examines the broader fiscal status of the state, and recommends considerations and actions to the Legislature. Recall, Governor Newsom proposed his $222.2 billion state budget on Friday of last week. The LAO’s report…
Read More »On Tuesday, California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report entitled, “Childhood Lead Levels: Millions of Children in Medi-Cal Have Not Received Required Testing for Lead Poisoning.” The audit was conducted on the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and found that from fiscal years 2009-10 through…
Read More »On Wednesday, Covered California released new data detailing open enrollment figures for the 2020 coverage year, revealing that 230,000 Californians have selected a plan as of December 16. This figure represents an increase of approximately 16 percent compared to last year’s open enrollment period at this point in time. More than 1.15 million existing consumers…
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