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

Feb 5, 2025 - From 2008 ‑10 to 2018 ‑20, rates of suicide in California among youth aged 15 through 24 increased by more than 20  percent. These troubling trends have accelerated since the COVID ‑19 pandemic and have made improving California ’s behavioral health system a priority for the state ’s policymakers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - For example, one consumer might receive five hours of respite in a given month, while another consumer might receive 20 hours of respite in the same month. Accordingly, using available data to calculate an average cost per consumer ($21,000 General Fund in 2025 ‑26, for example) or a growth rate in the average cost per consumer (8.6  percent between 2021 ‑22 and 2026 ‑27, for
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - As a result, as Figure  2 shows, Medi ‑Cal comprises 19  percent of overall General Fund spending by the end of our outlook period —slightly lower than the 20  percent share in the 2025 ‑26 enacted  budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5092

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

Jul 13, 2023 - Again, applying the targets developed earlier, small counties could cover a 20  percent revenue decline less than 20  percent of the time, with that figure dropping to less than 10  percent of the time for large counties.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4780

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

Mar 6, 2025 - The 2019 ‑20 budget package eliminated this share of cost for seniors and persons with disabilities up to 138  percent of FPL, consistent with the eligibility rules for children and adults through age 64.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5010

Considering Medi-Cal in the Midst of a Changing Fiscal and Policy Landscape

Oct 24, 2025 - Based on July 2025 unemployment data, about 20 counties in California currently meet the criteria, and several more are close. We estimate that this additional exemption alone could exclude at least a few hundred thousand individuals.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5083

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - As Figure  4 shows, the top 30 drugs in terms of spending (out of about 950 drug categories) represented less than 20  percent of all prescriptions (left column) but more than 50  percent of gross spending (right column).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - While overall health effects from wildfire smoke still are being studied, a rough estimate suggests wildfire smoke in 2020 caused about 20 deaths per 100,000 adults over the age of 65. Researchers suggest that particulate matter in fire‑prone areas could roughly double by the end of the century, and that a 50 percent increase in wildfire smoke could increase deaths of older adults by an additional 9 to 20 per 100,000 people annually.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

Jun 12, 2025 - Between 2007-08, when CDPH became a standalone department (it was formerly a division within the then Department of Health Services), and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-20, the overall CDPH budget was relatively flat and was about $3.4  billion (total funds) at its highest.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5056

Enhancing Federal Financial Participation for Consumers Served by the Department of Developmental Services—An Interim Update

Apr 19, 2021 - According to 2019 ‑20 data provided to our office by DDS, about 21  percent of Lanterman Act-eligible DDS consumers (roughly 67,000 individuals) were not enrolled in Medi-Cal in 2019 ‑20. Of these, about 45  percent (roughly 30,000 individuals) had at least one RC-coordinated service, which could potentially make them eligible for federal reimbursement.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4415