This week California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) published its first Report on Promoting High Value Health Care in California, 2023-2024. The report provides the first measure of statewide primary care spending and will serve as a foundation for implementing the state’s primary care investment benchmark. The report also includes information about OHCA’s work on workforce initiatives, alternative payment models, and cost-reduction strategies.
The OHCA Board first approved a statewide primary care investment benchmark in October 2024 following the passage of a law in 2022 creating OHCA and other policies to slow health care spending growth. CAFP played a central role in developing the primary care spending targets by serving on OHCA’s Investment and Payment Workgroup and providing input on defining primary care and data collection processes.
The primary care investment target includes one benchmark for individual payer investment, and a separate spending benchmark goal for total statewide investment. The state’s total statewide investment benchmark goal is for 15% of total medical expenditures (TME) to be spent on primary care by 2034. This first report presents data from 2023 and 2024, setting a primary care spending baseline across California's various markets and payers.
One of the key findings from the report is that primary care spending as a percent of TME increased slightly statewide from 4.7% in 2023 to 4.8% in 2024. This shows California remains well short of its 15% target. Future reports will include years that are subject to the benchmark and actually track performance against the annual investment targets. This work is critical to ensure that the state is on track to meet its goal and signal where higher investment is needed.
This report sets the stage as the state begins implementing the benchmark and payers begin implementing strategies to increase primary care investment. Primary care leaders and regulators have a crucial opportunity to champion strategies and policies that direct resources to frontline practices and foster a sustainable primary care workforce. CAFP remains committed to driving this progress and will keep members engaged every step of the way.
