Health and Human Services Publications
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Reducing the Earned Income Disregard
February 24, 2005 - The Governor proposes to lower the grants for all working CalWORKs recipients, by reducing the amount of earned income which is disregarded (not counted) when determining a family’s grant. This proposal results in savings of $80 million and is likely to have minimal impact on the work incentive. We present alternative approaches which are likely to increase the work incentive but result in less budgetary savings.
Substantial Progress in Reducing Social Worker Caseloads
February 24, 2005 - In 2000, a legislatively mandated study found that it was difficult for social workers to provide services or maintain meaningful contact with children and their families because of the excessive numbers of cases they were expected to carry. Our analysis indicates California now meets or is approaching the three of the five workload standards in child welfare services.
Governor’s Data Center Consolidation Proposal Would Foreclose Legislative Oversight
February 24, 2005 - The Governor proposes to consolidate the state’s two largest data centers into the Department of Technology Services. A consolidated data center should ultimately result in improved services and reduced costs. A number of specific components of the proposal, however, would preempt the Legislature’s appropriation and oversight roles. For instance, the department’s expenditures would be controlled by administration officials outside the purview of the Legislature. Consequently, we recommend that the Legislature approve the consolidation but modify some key components.
State Needs Unified Strategic Approach to Homeland Security
February 24, 2005 - The state lacks a unified strategic approach to homeland security. The Office of Homeland Security and the Department of Health Services have not sufficiently coordinated their efforts. We make a number of recommendations to address these problems, including the development of a strategic plan and annual expenditure report.
Child Support Enforcement: Comparing California's Performance
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February 23, 2005 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3
Lowering the State's Costs For Prescription Drugs
February 17, 2005 - State agencies purchase about $4.2 billion annually in prescription and nonprescription drugs as part of their responsibilities to deliver health care services to their program recipients. Our review—which focused on 10 percent of these purchases—found several deficiencies in the state's procurement of drugs which lead to it paying higher costs than necessary. We make a number of recommendations to correct these procurement and administrative deficiencies which would, if implemented, generate savings totaling tens of millions of dollars annually.
Evaluating the Administration's California Rx Proposal
February 10, 2005 -
Our analysis indicates that the Governor's California Rx plan for drug discounts for the uninsured provides a reasonable starting point for the development of such a program. However, we propose, among other changes, that in the event that drug makers fail to make good on their promises for significant price concessions, an automatic trigger would phase-out the proposed voluntary approach to obtaining rebates from drug manufacturers, and be replaced by an alternative strategy likely to result in greater discounts on more drugs for consumers.
A related report—Lowering the State's Costs For Prescription Drugs—which addresses the state's purchasing of drugs for its own programs, will be released shortly.
Preschool and Child Care Overview
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February 9, 2005 - Presented to a joint hearing of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittees No. 1 and No. 3 on February 9, 2005.
In-Home Supportive Services General Fund Spending Increases
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April 29, 2004 - Presented to Budget Subcommittee No.1 on April 28, 2004.
Overview of State Information Technology and Procurement
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March 24, 2004 - Presented to Assembly Budget Committee on March 24, 2004
Better Care Reduces Health Care Costs for Aged and Disabled Persons
March 4, 2004 - Today, the Medi-Cal Program offers a paradox: aged and disabled beneficiaries who would benefit the most from the improved health care that can come from receiving coordinated care have largely been excluded from Medi-Cal managed care. To improve health care for this group and reduce Medi-Cal expenditures, we recommend shifting an estimated 330,000 aged or disabled persons from the fee-for-service system to Medi-Cal managed care.
Index of Information Technology Issues in the Analysis of the 2004-05 Budget Bill
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February 24, 2004 - Index of Information Technology Issues in the Analysis of the Budget Bill, 2004-05
State Information Technology Projects
February 18, 2004 - In March 2003, the Department of Finance began a statewide assessment of 117 state information technology (IT) projects. The results of the assessment indicate that departments are having problems (1) developing their IT projects and (2) adhering to state policies. Our analysis examines the assessment results, identifies some possible deficiencies in the state's IT processes, and makes recommendations on how the Legislature can address the deficiencies.
Health and Human Services Staff
- Mark Newton
- (916) 319-8323
- Deputy Legislative Analyst: Health, Developmental Services, and Technology
- Jason Constantouros
- (916) 319-8322
- Medi-Cal/Managed Care/Family Health/Health Care Affordability and Workforce Development
- Brian Metzker
- (916) 319-8354
- Privacy, Security, and Technology
- Ryan Miller
- (916) 319-8356
- Medi-Cal/Behavioral Health/Covered California/CalHHS Agency Issues
- Angela Short
- (916) 319-8309
- Child Welfare, Child Support, Community Services and Development, Community Care Licensing, CalSTRS
- Karina Hendren
- (916) 319-8352
- Medi-Cal/Long-Term Care/Developmental Services
- Will Owens
- (916) 319-8341
- Public Health/Behavioral Health/State Hospitals
- Sonia Schrager Russo
- (916) 319-8361
- CalWORKs/CalFresh
- Juwan Trotter
- (916) 319-8358
- In-Home Supportive Services/Aging Programs
- Ginni Bella Navarre
- (916) 319-8342
- Deputy Legislative Analyst: Human Services and Governance