About Medi-Cal
More than 15 million Californians rely on Medi-Cal, the state’s health care coverage safety net, for health insurance. Two-thirds of those on Medi-Cal are people of color and often live in communities with a lack of adequate health care providers. Without significant investments to support providers that deliver health care to California’s most vulnerable, millions living in rural and underserved areas are in jeopardy.
State Medicaid Agencies Can Apply for CMS Grant by Sept. 20
What’s happening: The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is preparing to apply for a federal grant related to the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) model, which is projected to run for 10 years.
What else to know: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting applications through Sept. 20. DHCS is planning to apply, with its pilot plan operating in Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties.
Hospitals Are Invited to Complete CalAIM Survey
What’s happening: The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health are asking providers to share their experiences in a survey about the implementation of Medi-Cal’s California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) waiver.
What else to know: This survey is a follow-up to the initial survey conducted in the summer of 2023. The findings will be made public to help stakeholders, including policy makers, understand how CalAIM implementation is progressing. CHCF is asking hospitals to identify both the positives and the areas for improvement.
Hospitals Can Now Apply for Funds to Treat Patients with Behavioral Health Needs
What’s happening: Following the March 2024 passage of CHA-supported Proposition 1, applications are now open for $4.4 billion in new Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) funding to support capital projects that expand the behavioral health services continuum.
What else to know: Hospitals can start the application process now for the first round of grants. Required pre-application consultation must be requested by Oct. 15, and applications are due by Dec. 13.
With a Month Left in Session, Positive News on Many Bills
Next month, state legislators will return from their summer recess and finalize the outcome of hundreds of bills — including dozens that will have some bearing on hospital care — before concluding the 2024 session on Aug. 31.
CMS Accepting Grant Applications for Model to Improve Maternal Health
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has opened the application period for the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model aimed at improving maternal health.
What else to know: Applications are due Sept. 20.
DHCS Announces Upcoming Supplemental Payment Dates
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has announced it will make disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments on July 15.
What else to know: The payments will have a warrant date of July 11.
State Budget Negotiations Continue as Legislature to Submit Its Version of the Budget
What’s happening: The Legislature will send its version of the 2024-25 state budget, possibly addressing the managed care organization (MCO) tax issue, to the governor by the June 15 constitutional deadline.
What else to know: A key issue to be resolved is whether to restore funding for Medi-Cal providers from the MCO tax with a delay from 2025 to 2026.
MCO Funding Must be Restored
California’s Legislature has a little more than a week to finalize the state budget for the coming year — no small task given the multibillion-dollar, multiyear deficit at hand.
DHCS Announces Upcoming Supplemental Payment Dates for 2023-24
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will make April-May payments for state fiscal year (SFY) 2023–24 for the following programs on June 10: Qualified Non-Designated Public Hospitals Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Private DSH Replacement What else to know: The payments will have a warrant date of June 6.
Behavioral Health Infrastructure Grants Available in July
What’s happening: The Newsom administration will start taking applications for behavioral health infrastructure grants this summer; hospitals will be eligible to apply.
What else to know: When voters passed Proposition 1 on the March 2024 ballot, they approved a $6.4 billion bond to finance new investments in housing and treatment for Californians experiencing mental health conditions and substance use disorders.