This month is critical as the Senate and Assembly will be finalizing their combined budget they send to the Governor. In an early major CAFP win, both chambers approved of $33 million in annual ongoing funding for the Song-Brown Primary Care Physician Training Program, which funds primary care residency programs whose graduates train and continue to practice in underserved areas. Your advocacy is critical in determining which other budget proposals move forward. The Conference Committee members are Assemblymembers Ting (co-chair), Mayes, McCarty, Obernolte and Weber; and Senators Mitchell (co-chair), Moorlach, Nielsen, Roth and Skinner. Please call your legislators over the next several days to support critical budget items including Proposition 56 Medi-Cal provider payment increases and expansion of Medi-Cal coverage for all eligible individuals regardless of immigration status.
- Expansion of Medi-Cal coverage for all eligible individuals regardless of immigration status.
- Investment in a Value-Based Payment program that adheres to CAFP guidance that would amend the program to reward process instead of outcomes, use appropriate timing and size of payments to affect change, and align incentive metrics with other risk-adjusted, value-based payment models.
- Proposition 56 Medi-Cal provider payment increases and family planning specific funding, including:
- A three-year federal State Plan Amendment (versus the current single-year approval) to stabilize the Proposition 56 revenue stream supporting increased access to health care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
- Reallocating unused Proposition 56 managed care plan funds to support providers in improving access to care for beneficiaries.
- Funding to support developmental and trauma screenings, provider training to deliver trauma screenings, and additional awards in Loan Repayment Program through CalHealthCares.
- Restoration of optical, audiology, incontinence creams/washes, podiatry, and speech therapy benefits in Medi-Cal.
- Extension of Medi-Cal eligibility from 60 days to one year for post-partum women diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
- Funding for prevention and linkage to care programs for patients with HIV, Hepatitis C, and STDs.
- Full funding for the California Immunization Registry.
- Premium assistance subsidies in Covered California for individuals and families earning up to 600 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
