The 2025-26 Budget: Understanding Recent Increases in the Medi-Cal Senior Caseload

Mar 6, 2025 - Net Effects of Continuous Coverage, Unwinding, and Unwinding Flexibilities Account for Up to Remaining 60,000 of Increase in Senior Caseload. Subtracting the at least 165,000  increase in the senior caseload due to eligibility changes from the 225,000 total seniors due to policy changes leaves up to 60,000  seniors.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5010

An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

Jun 12, 2025 - CDPH receives $92  million to support six foundational spending areas, including 25 positions in CLS, and is responsible for providing coordination, planning, and technical assistance to LHJs as they build up their infrastructure.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5056

Building California’s Behavioral Health Infrastructure: Progress Update and Opportunities for the Proposition 1 Bond

Feb 5, 2025 - The BHSA requires that up to 3  percent of annual revenue (up to about $100  million) is spent on statewide behavioral health workforce initiatives administered by HCAI. BHCIP Created in 2021 ‑22 Budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2025-26 Budget: CalAIM Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports Implementation Update

Mar 6, 2025 - While the ECM benefit is intentionally targeted at a small subset of the overall Medi ‑Cal population, the take up appears to be between about one ‑third and one ‑quarter of those eligible for services.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5003

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - Any level above zero is up to the discretion of the Legislature. Recent budgets have set the SFEU between $3.5  billion and $4  billion. The Governor proposes a $4.5  billion SFEU balance for the end of 2025 ‑26.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - For planning purposes, our outlook assumes an initial cost that falls in between these estimates (around $1  billion) and ramps it up over time. Given the significant uncertainty, however, the Legislature likely will want to carefully assess the administration ’s estimates —including its back-up information —when released with the Governor ’s budget in January.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4941

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - In 2023 ‑24, we estimate these rebates comprised 3  percent of gross spending, up from as low as 1  percent in some years. This increase was expected following the switch to the Medi ‑Cal Rx system in 2022.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026

Mental Health Services Act: Revenue Volatility and the Governor’s Proposal to Reduce Allowable County Reserves

Jul 13, 2023 - On average, the true ups have been about 30  percent of the sum of initial monthly deposits for a fiscal year, but in 2023-24 the true up is projected to be 90  percent of the monthly deposits for that fiscal year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4780

The 2025-26 Budget: Health Care Access and Information

Feb 20, 2025 - Adopting a public‑private partnership, HCAI is committed to pay the partner up to $50 million for meeting specified project milestones. The contract also grants other specific oversight mechanisms, such as giving HCAI representation on the partner’s governing board.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4979

The 2025-26 Budget: MCO Tax and Proposition 35

Feb 26, 2025 - This is because the augmentations were scheduled to ramp up in 2025 and 2026, requiring a larger share of MCO tax funds. Under Proposition  35, the cost of this backfill is even higher, as even more MCO tax funding must be allocated toward augmentations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4992