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.

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Vice President, External Engagement

Katie Rodriguez

Associate Director, State Health Policy

Crystal Haswell

Program Officer, State Health Policy

Sacramento Office Manager & Program Associate, State Health Policy

November 18, 2020

Webinar — Post-Election 2020: What’s Next for Health Policy?

Coverage Trends, Health Equity, Telehealth

November 18, 2020

This virtual briefing featured national health policy expert Billy Wynne, JD, who shared his post-election analysis on what we might expect in federal health policy in 2021.

Webinar — Public Hospitals and Health Systems During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This webinar featured three leaders from public hospitals and health systems discussing the challenges and opportunities for their organizations and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Webinar — Challenges and Opportunities for Community Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

CHCF hosted a webinar on June 26 to hear three community health center leaders discuss challenges and opportunities for their organizations and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 in California’s Nursing Homes: Factors Associated with Cases and Deaths

Cal Hospital Compare, UCSF, IBM Watson Health

Nursing homes — compared to other health care facilities — have been carrying the heaviest burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths in California and across the nation. Researchers analyzed numerous potential factors that may have put California nursing home residents at increased risk of infection and mortality from this virus.

COVID-19 Tracking Poll, November 2020: Views from California Health Care Providers on the Front Lines

Goodwin Simon Strategic Research

Behavioral Health, Telehealth

The poll provides detailed insights on the impact of COVID-19 on health care providers' mental health and morale, views of their patients' mental and physical health, providers' experiences with telehealth, and the availability of personal protective equipment.

Equal Treatment: A Review of Mental Health Parity Enforcement in California

Behavioral Health

Researchers at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms assessed California's progress in enforcing the 2008 federal parity law.

Controlling Health Care Costs

Health Care Costs

Health care is too expensive for many Californians. CHCF offers these resources that detail where health spending happens, why health care costs are increasing so rapidly, and what policymakers could consider to improve value in the system.

Recontracting Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans

In 2021 the California Department of Health Care Services will begin the process of recontracting with Medi-Cal managed care plans (often referred to as procurement). It's a critical opportunity to use new financial incentives and oversight measures to improve quality and access to care for Medi-Cal members.

Understanding the New Federal Data Interoperability Requirements

In March, federal rules designed to improve how health care organizations collect and share patient data were released. This slide deck provides a high-level introduction to these complex rules with a focus on implications for health plans, which face some of the earliest and more daunting compliance deadlines.

Hanging On to Coverage?

Katherine Wilson, Laurel Lucia

Coverage Trends

Millions of Californians lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. But early information from California’s insurance regulators suggests that — at least through June — the number of Californians with job-based health insurance has not changed as dramatically as feared. This may help partially explain why the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, has not yet experienced a big surge in enrollment.

Promise and Pitfalls: A Look at California’s Regional Health Information Organizations

Walter Sujansky

Investing in Innovation, Data Exchange

This report examines the various types of health information exchange resources available to provider organizations in California. It focuses on the role of nonprofit regional health information organizations and profiles the largest nine currently operating in the state.

Expanding Payer and Provider Participation in Data Exchange

This report outlines a spectrum of policy, contracting, and financing levers available to states working to advance interoperability, with a special focus on California's potential paths forward.

A Primer on Dual-Eligible Californians

Amber Christ, Georgia Burke

More than a million Californians receive health care coverage from both Medicare and Medi-Cal. These dual-eligible enrollees are older adults with low incomes and people with disabilities. The goal of the paper is to help stakeholders understand the complexities of service delivery for dual-eligible enrollees and to assess the impact of proposed changes on how enrollees can access care under both Medicare and Medi-Cal.

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.

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.

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.