Medi-Cal

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.

Medi-Cal is California’s version of the federal program known as Medicaid. To learn more about CHA’s work to protect Medicaid, visit our federal resource page.

Senate, House Leadership Face Continued Pressure on Medicaid Cuts

What’s happening: Key Republican members of Congress, led by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA 22), sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) vowing to oppose the Senate’s version of the reconciliation bill if its Medicaid cuts go beyond those in the House bill (H.R.1, One Big Beautiful...

DHCS Releases Private Hospital-Directed Payment Encounter Files

What’s happening: On June 13, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) uploaded three new hospital-directed payment encounter files, available via the Secure File Transfer Protocol site, that hospitals must download as soon as possible — they will be deleted within 45 days of the upload date.  

Newsom Administration Proposal to Use Proposition 35 Funds to Balance State Budget Thwarts Will of California Voters

SACRAMENTO (May 14, 2025) — “Just two days after a congressional committee released a federal budget proposal that would hollow out Californians’ health care services through drastic Medicaid cuts, the state’s May budget revision proposal piles on. The state would fill its spending gap by taking $1.6 billion from resources that voters directed to Medi-Cal providers and protecting access to care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association.

Medicaid Cuts Will Hurt All Californians

SACRAMENTO (May 12, 2025) — “The legislation proposed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to enact massive Medicaid cuts is a devastating blow that will be felt by all who need hospital care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “Cuts of this magnitude cannot be absorbed. Hospitals will have no other choice but to reduce patient care services or, in the worst cases, close entirely. That means care is lost for everyone — children, seniors, privately insured people — no matter what type of health insurance coverage you have.”

CHA Encourages Members to Participate in the Vitality Index Payer Scorecard

What’s happening: CHA is endorsing member participation in the Vitality Index Payer Scorecard, which will provide critical information to support CHA’s advocacy to hold insurers accountable for timely and accurate reimbursement.   What else to know: The CHA Board of Trustees has endorsed this tool, which will automatically draw de-identified claims and remittance information from hospitals without...