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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Please see our topic pages on Coverage Trends, Health Equity, Telehealth, and Workforce.

Vice President, External Engagement

Katie Rodriguez

Associate Director, State Health Policy

Crystal Haswell

Program Officer, State Health Policy

Health Equity Fellow, Health Policy

Sacramento Office Manager & Program Associate, State Health Policy

Progress Since the California Future Health Workforce Commission

Progress Since the California Future Health Workforce Commission: State Policy and Budget Actions on Priority Recommendations provides an overview of how California has acted on Commission recommendations to grow and diversity its health workforce.

Medi-Cal Quality Strategy Explores Bold Steps Toward Health Equity

January 26, 2022

Christopher Perrone

The strategy will shape how health care will be provided to almost one in three Californians.

California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal: CalAIM

CalAIM, or California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, is a multiyear process led by the California Department of Health Care Services to improve the health outcomes and quality of life experienced by Medi-Cal enrollees. It is scheduled to begin January 1, 2022.

Advancing Data Exchange in California

This series of reports sponsored by CHCF is aimed at helping inform California decisionmakers about statewide data exchange. These reports focus on how other states have approached statewide health information exchange; the existing electronic health record networks, regional health information organizations, and competing infrastructure that currently exist in California; and the challenges and policy options for the state going forward.

Improving Quality in Medi-Cal Managed Care

Everyone in Medi-Cal, regardless of where they live or their managed care plan, should have the same opportunity to get timely, high-quality care. But today, access and quality of care varies widely within the Medi-Cal managed care system.

Webinar — Organizations React to Medi-Cal Managed Care Procurement Draft RFP

Medi-Cal, Payment & Financing

CHCF’s webinar on August 5 from noon to 1:15 PM (PT) highlighted the feedback provided to DHCS from various organizations on the Medi-Cal managed care procurement draft RFP.

The Big Shortage: The Future of California’s Health Workforce

Workforce, Telehealth, Behavioral Health

California's health workforce faces major shortages. The good news? There's no shortage of workable solutions.

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.

2020 Edition — Health Care Almanac Regional Markets Study

The markets included in the 2020 release — Humboldt/Del Norte, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, and San Joaquin Valley, — reflect a range of economic, demographic, care delivery, and financing conditions in California.

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.

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.

Listening to the Voices of Californians

CHCF believes that our health care system — especially public programs like Medi-Cal — should reflect the needs, experiences, and priorities of the people they serve. We engage in “listening work” to help policymakers and health care partners understand the experiences and attitudes of health care consumers, as well as the doctors, nurses, and other health professionals who provide frontline care.

A Primer on Dual-Eligible Californians

Amber Christ, Georgia Burke

Medi-Cal, Older Adults with Complex Needs

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.

Pulling Back the Curtain: How Many California Hospitals Are Complying with Federal Price Transparency Rules?

Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

Health Care Costs

Federal regulations that went into effect in January 2021 require hospitals to release "clear, accessible pricing information" about their services. This analysis shows that only a minority of California hospitals are fully compliant with this new policy.

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.

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.

Health Workforce Strategies for California

This collection of publications examines the evidence on the impact of key health workforce policy interventions, such as pipeline and loan repayment programs, to achieve goals like diversifying the workforce, increasing the number of health professionals who provide care in a language other than English, and increasing access to care in medically underserved areas.