State Health Policy - California Health Care Foundation

State Health Policy
CHCF's Sacramento office provides policymakers and the media with a valuable local resource, and serves as a link to experts and resources at the foundation's Oakland headquarters.

Visit our Sacramento Office

See all of CHCF's Almanac resources

Learn about Smart Care California

February 18, 2020

Briefing: Behavioral Health Integration in Medi-Cal

Behavioral Health

February 18, 2020

Join this CHCF briefing to learn about efforts to integrate physical and behavioral health care in Medicaid programs across the country and within Medi-Cal in California.

Fact Sheet: Nurse Practitioners and California’s Latino Community

Providers, Workforce

Nurse practitioners are a vital part of California’s health care workforce. Today they play a particularly important role providing care to underserved Californians, especially Latino communities.

October 24, 2019

Webinar — Medi-Cal Explained: Waivers and State Plan Amendments

October 24, 2019

As California is set to launch the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, brush up on the fundamentals of waivers and State Plan Amendments, including what's in California's current Section 1115 and Section 1915(b) waivers.

A Close Look at Medi-Cal Managed Care: Statewide Quality Trends from the Last Decade

Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF

This report examines the quality of care provided by Medi-Cal managed care plans between 2009 and 2018. In addition to reporting on overall trends in performance, this report also examines differences by type of ownership (public, nonprofit, for-profit) and model of managed care.

September 23, 2019

Briefing — An Introduction to California’s Public Mental Health System

Behavioral Health

September 23, 2019

At this CHCF briefing participants learned the fundamentals of the history and financing of the mental health system for people insured through Medi-Cal.

Briefing — Improving Quality in Medi-Cal Managed Care

Join CHCF for a briefing on how California can improve quality and access within Medi-Cal managed care.

Briefing — Expanding the Role of Nurse Practitioners

CHCF hosted a briefing — with experts from Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada — on what California can learn from other states that have expanded practice authority for nurse practitioners.

Health Workforce Commission Lays the Groundwork for Easier Access to Care

February 4, 2019

Sandra R. Hernández

A new report from the California Future Health Workforce Commission charts a clear path to ensure that our state has the right people in the right places to deliver the care that is needed most.

Transforming Mental Health Patients into Providers

January 13, 2019

Behavioral Health, Workforce

An innovative program in Washington connects peer support counselors whose personal experience of recovery from mental illness or addiction helps them deliver behavioral health services to patients — at pivotal moments in their lives.

Lawmakers Focus on Mental Health — Especially in Medi-Cal

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal

The California legislature is considering dozens of bills related to behavioral health and the mental health care system. CHCF's associate director for High-Value Care gave lawmakers an overview of mental health in the state.

For Better Outcomes and Significant Savings, Medi-Cal Must Pay Health Plans Differently

Christopher Perrone

Medi-Cal, Payment & Financing

California can strengthen its use of payment as a tool to drive performance improvements and create greater value in the Medi-Cal program, and to enhance care for Medi-Cal's more than 13 million members.

Resource Page: Covering All Californians

Insurance Coverage, Medi-Cal

California is in the midst of a critical discussion about how to achieve the goal of covering every Californian. To inform this discussion, CHCF curates key California-specific resources and analyses around the remaining uninsured and around policy options designed to preserve and expand coverage.

Medi-Cal Explained

Medi-Cal is the foundation of California’s health care safety net and a major component of the state’s budget. The Medi-Cal Explained series provides an overview of the program, including the people it serves, the services it provides, and how it is organized, managed, and financed.

February 25, 2019

Briefing — Medi-Cal Explained: An Overview of Program Basics

February 25, 2019

This briefing provided an overview of the basics of the Medi-Cal program, including eligibility and enrollment, organization, oversight, and financing.

Health Insurance in California: A Recent History

Katherine Wilson

Insurance Coverage

CHCF offers a snapshot of the health insurance market in California, where 93% of people are enrolled in private or public coverage, with only 7% of the population remaining uninsured. These infographics provide a breakdown of current enrollment in commercial plans and public programs, as well as a visual guide to the consolidation of health insurers since 1985.

Changes to Public Charge Rule

On August 12, 2019, the federal government finalized radical changes to “public charge” rules in an effort to disqualify many immigrants from gaining permanent residency in the US. The rule will go into effect in California on February 24, 2020, even as multiple legal challenges continue to move through the federal courts.

December 6, 2018

Briefing — How Medi-Cal Is Modernizing Addiction Treatment

Behavioral Health

December 6, 2018

Expert speakers discussed the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System, the central tool in California's effort to expand and improve its system for treating people with addiction.

November 15, 2018

Briefing — The ABCs of APCDs

Health Care Costs

November 15, 2018

Speakers from across the US discussed what an all-payer claims database could mean for California, and how it might be implemented.

2018 Edition — Substance Use in California

Behavioral Health

About 8% of Californians met criteria for substance use disorder, but only 10% of people with a substance use disorder received any type of treatment. CHCF's first Almanac publication to address this topic provides an overview of substance use and addiction in the state.

California’s Policy Options: Making Individual Market Coverage More Affordable

ACA/Health Reform, Insurance Coverage

The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education has released a report detailing affordability concerns of Californians seeking individual market coverage. It also outlines five policy options that could move the state closer to universal coverage.

2018 Edition — Mental Health in California

Behavioral Health, Providers

Mental Health in California: For Too Many, Care Not There provides an overview of mental health in California: disease prevalence, suicide rates, supply and use of treatment providers, and mental health in the correctional system. This Almanac report also includes available data on spending and quality of care.

Intended Consequences: Modernizing Medi-Cal Rate Setting to Improve Health and Manage Costs

Manatt Health, Optumas Healthcare

Medi-Cal, Payment & Financing

The current Medi-Cal rate-setting methodology can hurt health plans that invest in initiatives that lower costs (such as care coordination), thereby discouraging more plans from making those investments. A new rate-setting methodology is needed.

Resource Page: Community Paramedicine in California

A comprehensive list of resources for keeping track of California's community paramedicine pilots.

Resource Center

Regional Markets

California’s large size means that health care is organized, delivered, and financed differently throughout the state. CHCF commissioned studies of seven large and diverse regional markets that provide details of local health care systems and identify common themes and emerging issues that influence how Californians receive their health care.

Resource Center

California Health Care Almanac

Objective information on health care costs, coverage, quality, and delivery supports effective decisionmaking. The Almanac provides data and analysis on California's health care system.

Vice President, External Engagement

Katherine Rodriguez

Associate Director, State Health Policy

Crystal Haswell

Program Officer, State Health Policy

Sacramento Office Manager & Program Associate, State Health Policy

Avram Goldstein

Senior Engagement Officer