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

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

COVID-19: American Rescue Plan’s Major Health-Related Funding Provisions

May 6, 2021 - This funding is allocated as follows: $3  Billion for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Block Grant Programs. SAMHSA administers two federal grant programs —the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant —which provide formula-based grant funding to states for mental health and substance use treatment, respectively.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4425

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

Feb 5, 2025 - Proposition  1 (2024) changed how revenue from the BHSA is spent by the state and counties. 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.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2023-24 Budget: Whole Child Model Expansion

May 5, 2023 - Absent this proposal, these plans would administer the Whole Child Model in some of their counties and not in others, potentially adding to the complexity of administering services to their beneficiaries.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4767

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

Jul 13, 2023 - One way to measure the variability in a data series is average deviation (AD). AD summarizes —for a given time period —how many percentage points the data in a series deviate from the average growth rate.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4780

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 report also could describe how the fixes and functionalities are designed to address known Medi ‑Cal eligibility functionality issues in CalHEERS, and whether any new issues have been added to the dashboard because of the CalHEERS releases.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4408

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - How much of these savings accru e to California, however, is uncertain. California could choose to continue streamlining eligibility policies, even absent federal enforcement of the new rules. Recoupments for Excess Payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5092