California’s Office of Health Care Affordability Launched
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THE CHCF WEEKLY
November 15, 2022
Cost-related access problems have become a widespread public health issue in California and nationwide. In each of the last three years, half of Californians skipped or delayed some type of health care because they couldn’t afford it.
To address the affordability crisis, the state created the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to set and enforce cost growth targets within the health care system. Eight other states have similar initiatives as recently outlined in Health Affairs Forefront.
OHCA is being established under California’s Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) and will be the focus of a CHCF briefing on Wednesday, November 30 in Sacramento. Attendees will hear from HCAI about the early implementation of OHCA, and key industry stakeholders will participate in a panel discussion.
Register to attend the briefing in person or virtually.
Half of Californians who postponed health care last year due to cost say their condition got worse as a result.
From the Blog
Claudia Boyd-Barrett Experts counsel community members on how to navigate Medi-Cal, including those who are reluctant to provide their ID cards or the personal information required to apply for coverage. |
Christopher Perrone Continued investment and sound implementation will lead to higher quality care for millions of Medi-Cal enrollees — and make progress toward reducing racial and ethnic disparities. |
Recent Releases
This issue brief explores the driving factors and the challenges to implementing AB 890 – which grants nurse practitioners (NPs) who meet certain criteria the authority to practice without physician supervision – from the perspective of NPs, health care leaders, and policy experts.
Older adults are the fastest-growing population in California’s community health centers. CHCF is considering ways to support California safety-net organizations and is using a request for information to identify primary care safety-net providers interested in participating in a multiyear project.
Upcoming Event
Join ITUP February 6–7, 2023, for the 27th Annual Conference: Cultivating an Equitable Future of Health. The in-person conference will highlight key strategies to make health care coverage meaningful and discuss what’s needed going to create an equitable health system for all Californians.
Stories That Caught Our Attention
- Investigating Private Equity’s Stealthy Takeover of Health Care Across Cities and Specialties (California Healthline)
Private equity firms have shelled out almost $1 trillion to acquire nearly 8,000 health care businesses, in deals almost always hidden from federal regulators. The result: higher prices, lawsuits, and complaints about care. Related: This CHCF landscape paper on California's physician practice settings includes data on private equity ownership.
- Stopping the Churn: California and Other States Want to Guarantee Medicaid for Kids (California Healthline)
Before the COVID-19 public health emergency, millions of children churned on and off Medicaid each year because of administrative problems. Several states, including California, are seeking to change that and are weighing new continuous-enrollment policies for the youngest Medicaid members.
- El Tímpano, the Oakland News Outlet for Spanish Speakers That’s Serving an Isolated Bay Area (SFGate)
The media platform creates text message journalism that has built a two-way channel with its readership, which is primarily Latino/x and Mayan immigrants.
- Medication Treatment for Addiction Is Shorter for Black and Hispanic Patients, Study Finds (The New York Times - paywall)
When Black and Latino/x patients with opioid use disorder start a prescription for buprenorphine — the most popular medication to help those in recovery fight cravings — the typical duration of treatment is shorter than that of white patients, according to a report in JAMA Psychiatry. Related: Despite data showing the success of medications in treating opioid addiction, objections are still common. This CHCF publication outlines frequently cited objections and evidence-based responses to each.
- California Stockpiles Penalties From Uninsured Residents Instead of Lowering Care Costs (California Healthline)
Nearly three years after California started fining residents who don’t have health insurance, the state has not distributed any of the revenue it has collected — money that was intended to help Californians struggling to pay for coverage.
- Medicaid Appears Likely to Survive Its Latest Encounter with the Supreme Court (Vox)
Most of the justices appeared unlikely to embrace an argument that Medicaid patients lose the right to sue to enforce the program’s standards, a move that would render all of Medicaid law almost entirely unenforceable. But as many as three justices may favor the idea.
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