Medi-Cal

About Medi-Cal

Every year, California’s hospitals treat millions of patients, many of them covered by Medi-Cal, the state’s health care safety net. This includes numerous essential health care services, including care for more than 50% of all births, 51% of behavioral health-related emergency department visits, and 49% of rural hospital patient care But for low-income Californians who rely on Medi-Cal for coverage — two-thirds of whom are people of color — their care is at serious risk. Communities with high Medi-Cal enrollment already suffer from a severe lack of health care providers and with hospital services at risk of being reduced and outright closures looming, California’s most vulnerable, including people living in rural and underserved areas, are in jeopardy.

Senate Confirms Brooks-LaSure to Lead CMS

Earlier this week, the Senate confirmed Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The nomination was approved 55-44, with four Republicans voting yes.   Brooks-LaSure previously served at the Department of Health & Human Services, including CMS, during the Obama administration and helped implement the Affordable Care Act. Before being nominated to lead CMS, she was […]

Governor Releases Revised State Budget

On May 14, Gov. Newsom presented the Legislature with revisions to the budget he proposed in January, the process referred to as the May Revise. Throughout the week leading up to the release of the revision, the governor had been presenting various proposals as part of his “California Roars Back” plan, touted as a recovery package tackling the […]

Medi-Cal SNF Rates Updated

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has updated Medi-Cal rates for hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs). Rates for the 2020-21 rate year, which began Aug. 1, were implemented for dates of service effective March 22.   DHCS has informed CHA that retroactive adjustments to the beginning of the rate will be made in early June. Additional information is available […]