Today, California announced new measures to provide emergency coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured and some underinsured. Under this new “presumptive eligibility” guidance by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), uninsured and some underinsured Californians will be able to get covered under emergency Medi-Cal for COVID-19 testing and treatment.
Initial Estimates Find Hundreds of Thousands of Californians Have Already Lost On-The-Job Coverage with Projections Into the Millions
Initial estimates this week by the Economic Policy Institute suggest hundreds of thousands of Californians have already lost their employer-based coverage in the last few weeks, and projections by Health Management Associates suggest the number might reach into the millions as the pandemic continues.
Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic Health & Immigrant Rights Groups Highlight Urgent Need to Expand Medi-Cal For All Seniors
This week, over 75 organizations from the #Health4All Coalition submitted a letter to Governor Newsom and legislative leaders asking for expedited implementation of an expansion in Medi-Cal to income-eligible undocumented seniors age 65 and over in order to help combat the public health crisis created by COVID-19.
New California Budget Takes Key Steps to Expand Access and Increase Affordability in Health Care
California Governor Gavin Newsom today officially unveiled his 2020-2021 $222 billion state budget ($153 billion general fund), which includes first-in-the-nation investments towards universal coverage and cost containment.
#CABudget Votes This Week Include Major Health Investments and Expansions
This week, the Assembly and Senate are poised to pass key health expansions as part of the overall 2019-20 Budget. The votes taken today and this week will advance health care reforms that were negotiated by the Governor and legislative leaders. Governor Newsom has until July 1 to sign the budget, which will make official […]
Pending CA Legislative Proposals Would Secure & Expand Coverage and Lower Premiums For Over 3.5 Million
A new brief by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is the first of its kind to model the health coverage impacts of pending legislation in the California State Legislature. The report finds that under the current legislative and budget proposals 1.7 million Californians would be enrolled in coverage instead of […]
CA Legislature Advances Key Proposals to Expand Coverage and Save Consumers Millions
Key legislation to make health care more affordable passed fiscal committees in the California Legislature, setting up high-stakes floor votes and budget negotiations in the next few weeks. The proposals would expand health coverage, increase affordability for hundreds of thousands of Californians, and reduce health care costs overall, and are all supported by the #Care4AllCA […]
California Legislative Committees Consider Major Health Coverage Expansions
Last week, California legislators heard and considered major proposals to expand access and increase affordability for hundreds of thousands of Californians, and which together would cut the state’s uninsured rate in half. One proposal, SB 29 (Durazo), to expand Medi-Cal to all income-eligible Californians regardless of immigration status, received 7-1 vote in the Senate Health […]
Assembly Holds Hearings on Universal Coverage in California: Day 2 – Health Care Systems in Other Countries
The Assembly Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage held the second part of its two-day hearing on healthcare delivery systems, focusing yesterday on universal coverage systems in other countries with the goal of informing a universal coverage system in California. Committee Co-Chairs Dr. Jim Wood and Dr. Joaquin Arambula and committee […]
Assembly Holds Hearings on Universal Coverage in California: Day 1
This week, the Assembly Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage held two hearings to continue the conversation about how California can achieve universal health coverage. It is the hope of the committee that these hearings will set the framework that will inform how the Assembly can pursue policy solutions towards universal […]