Yesterday, the California State Assembly and State Senate voted to pass a 2021-2022 state budget that includes funding for a more universal, equitable, and affordable, health care system. While the Legislature is in agreement on this version of the budget, negotiations continue with Governor Newsom on a final deal. On June 1, the state legislature announced a joint budget proposal that aligned on a number of key health care proposals, which is what was passed today. It includes historic investments in our health system, including a plan for the first-in-the-nation end to the exclusion of income-eligible undocumented adults age 50 and over in Medi-Cal. The Governor’s May Revision included a proposal to end this exclusion for those 60 and over. […] Read More
Medi-Cal
Major Steps This Week Towards #Health4All
May 28, 2021
We’ve made big strides this week on covering more Californians regardless of immigration status, but there’s more to do! Legislature makes push for 50+ On Wednesday, state Senate budget subcommittee 3 on Health & Human Services and the state Assembly budget subcommittee 1 on Health & Human Services took votes on their respective legislative budget proposals. Together, the state Senate and Assembly budgets are aligned on a significant investments to remove exclusions in Medi-Cal for all income eligible Californians age 50 and over, regardless of immigration status. This is a bigger step than proposed by Governor Newsom in his May Revision where he proposed removing the exclusion for age 60 and over. According to a recent LAO report, covering undocumented residents age 50 and over would […] Read More
CA Governor Newsom’s May Budget: Key Health Takeaways
May 17, 2021On Friday, May 14th 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled the 2021-22 May Revision of the state budget, which includes some important investments to improve and expand our health care system, but also missed major opportunities for further expansion and improvement, especially given the size of the surplus. This budget recognizes that our health system is better when everyone has access to coverage, including primary and preventative care, and we will continue to advocate with the Legislature to improve access and affordability in both Medi-Cal and Covered California. We should take this opportunity to get as close as possible a universal health care system, which we realize is more urgent than ever post-pandemic. Prior to the Governor’s May revision, the California […] Read More
California Senate & Assembly Budgets Align on Key Health Care Priorities
April 29, 2021The California State Assembly Democrats unveiled their updated 2021-2022 Budget of Opportunity, which comes on the heels of last week’s announcement from California State Senate Democrats of their Build Back Bolder budget outline. Both budget blueprints aligned on a number of key health care priorities, going above and beyond Governor Newsom’s January 2021 budget proposal, and would take major steps to close the remaining gaps in the uninsured, by eliminating barriers to needed coverage and care. Ultimately, the budget proposals by the Senate and Assembly will get our state closer than ever to our goal of universal health care coverage. These legislative budget proposals would expand access and affordability for hundreds of thousands of Californians seeking coverage and care, and get our state closer to a […] Read More
Twenty Takeaways from 2020
December 23, 2020Protecting Our Progress and Confronting the Challenges of COVID-19 Like most Californians, we had high hopes for progress in 2020. The year began in earnest with the implementation of expanded access and affordability to coverage for hundreds of thousands of Californians, and ambitious plans to increase health industry oversight to control costs, improve quality and equity, and win key patient protections. When the pandemic hit in March, Health Access doubled-down on our commitment to protect California consumers, adapting quickly to the many changes in our health system and in response to COVID-19. This meant pausing some of our larger-scale efforts in the short-term in order to fight for consumer protections and access to care during a pandemic-induced economic downturn and […] Read More
Despite Pandemic, Progress Continued on Health Care, Coverage, and Costs in California; Advocates Urge Governor Newsom Sign Key Access and Accountability Bills
September 1, 2020The California Legislature ended a 2020 session marked by significant changes due to the COVID-19 crisis. While several high-profile health policy initiatives stalled in light of the pandemic and the economic emergency that caused a state budget deficit, the legislative year ended with key advances on health policy for California consumers. Despite the pandemic, progress was made on improving California health coverage, care, and costs during this COVID-19 impacted legislative session. Admittedly, we were disappointed that solutions stalled on surprise medical bills and health care consolidation, which are both major drivers of higher health costs, the Legislature passed several other health policy highlights. Patient advocates urge Governor Newsom to sign the bills on his desk to help Californian consumers, including […] Read More
New Senate GOP COVID-19 Relief Package Falls Short for Californians
July 27, 2020US Senate Republicans today announced a new COVID-19 relief package that will do little to actually help struggling Californians. Beyond the reduced unemployment benefits negatively impacting millions of Californians, the new proposal includes no new aid to state and local governments, likely forcing major cuts to education, health care, and other vital human services that are needed now more than ever. In contrast, the HEROES Act passed by the House of Representatives, includes $500 billion in aid for states, additional help for local governments, increased Medicaid matching funds, other funds supporting human services, and direct financial assistance to help consumers maintain their employer-based health care coverage. These elements are the only way to help Californians out of this economic and public […] Read More
As COVID-19 Crisis Continues, CoveredCA Extends Deadline to Sign-Up for Health Coverage
June 23, 2020
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Californians losing jobs or hours are also losing their health care coverage. To help ensure that Californians are covered, Covered California, our state-based marketplace, announced an extension of the open enrollment period by another month, through the end of July. This extension is for both CoveredCA and off-exchange plans. Over 6 million Californians have filed for unemployment during the pandemic, and Covered California has seen a surge in enrollment of over 175,000 people. Health coverage is crucial at all times, but in the middle of a global pandemic it’s essential to ensure the health and well-being of yourself and your family. Especially for those who have lost employer-based coverage, Californians should take advantage of the new state […] Read More
2020-21 State Budget Deal Protects Many Key Health and Health Human Services – But Tough Cuts Made, and More Loom without Revenues
June 23, 2020
Governor Newsom and the California legislative leaders have announced a state budget deal today that pulls back many of the cuts to vital health and human services proposed in the May Revise, keeping this coverage and care intact as the state works to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. While some significant cuts were made, this budget deal staves off the worst of the proposed health care cuts which would have denied coverage to tens of thousands of low-income seniors, and cut benefits and access to health providers for millions more on Medi-Cal. The budget deal does still rely heavily on federal aid, which is currently pending in Congress. Health care advocates continue to call on the Federal Government to step in with financial […] Read More
CA Legislature Passes a 2020-21 State Budget That Protects Most Health and Human Services Programs – For Now
June 15, 2020Deal with Governor Still Being Negotiated–Federal Funds and New State Revenues and Taxes Needed to Stop Trigger Cuts Today the California State Senate and Assembly passed a budget preserving most funding for vital health and human services programs, which are even more important as our state works to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget passed by the California Legislature meets the constitutional deadline for passage, even as negotiations continue with Governor Newsom on a final budget. Those negotiations show signs that a deal to reject the worst of these health care cuts might be reached, but that would depend on new revenues, from federal funds or new state revenues. If the Governor adopts the Legislature’s version of the budget, it would rely on federal […] Read More