The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - The department stated that its budget projections for 2026 ‑27 do not incorporate any potential added costs due to the changes in H.R 1. Will the department be able to determine whether its costs increase in the future due to H.R. 1?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Mar 2, 2026 - One possible reason for our higher estimate is that our model reflects not only disenrollment among current enrollees, but also reduced enrollment flows over time and a persistent risk of disenrollment among eligible individuals due to added administrative burden.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5146

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

Apr 19, 2021 - All of the General Fund costs associated with these Medi-Cal benefits would be an added cost to the state since these consumers would be new to the Medi-Cal program. In our final report, we will provide an estimate of the fiscal implications to the state budget of increasing the Medi-Cal uptake of DDS consumers that accounts for these added costs outside of the DDS system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4415

Enhancing Federal Financial Participation for Consumers Served by the Department of Developmental Services

Nov 9, 2021 - Chapter 37 o f 2011 (A B 104 , Committee on Budget) added a new requirement that upon intake and assessment for RC services, the consumer must provide a copy of their health benefit card, in part to allow RCs to maximize federal waiver and 1915(i) SPA reimbursements among those enrolled in Medi ‑Cal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4471

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

Feb 5, 2025 - We use the same classification system as the RAND Corporation, due to our reliance on their work in estimating regional shortfalls i n inpatient mental health facility capacity. Acute care facilities provide relatively short ‑term care to those with the highest needs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2021-22 Budget: Behavioral Health: Community Care Demonstration Project

Feb 19, 2021 - There are two ways in which participating counties could have funds left over after treating their felony ISTs: ( 1)  i f the actual number of felony ISTs in participating counties is below what DSH estimated or ( 2)  i f participating counties are able to reduce the rate —through their own actions —at which individuals are found to be IST in felony cases.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4382

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

Oct 24, 2025 - …But Potentially With Added Complexity. Adding more flexibilities also could come with the potential downside of more complexity for beneficiaries and counties. For example, exempting high unemployment counties from work requirements could create more volatility.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5083

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

Mar 6, 2025 - In the paragraphs that follow, we provide our analysis that results in ou r estimate of at least 165,000 seniors being added due to eligibility expansions since 2020. (As a consequence of this estimate, it follows naturally that we estimate up to 60,000  seniors being added due to the effects of continuous coverage, the unwinding, and unwinding flexibilities, for a total increase of 225,000 seniors due to policy changes.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5010

The 2021-22 Budget: Assessment of CalHEERS Dashboard

Mar 25, 2021 - The CalHEERS release successfully deployed on February  15,   2021 i ncluded five new sets of functionalities and eight defect fixes identified and prioritized on the dashboard. County eligibility workers are in the process of confirming with the administration whether these issues are in fact resolved.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4408

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - Were this flexibility granted, California could have until January 2029, rather than January 2027 (as assumed i n our outlook), to fully implement the requirement. Were California to qualify, the two ‑year extension could shift the associated savings from disenrollments over a longer period of time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5092