The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - What is the role of the California Health and Human Services Agency in this process? It is possible that the state ’s new automated data matching processes could fail to automatically exempt some DDS consumers from the H.R. 1 eligibility requirements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Mar 2, 2026 - In light of what is known to date about the new federal rules, we recommend the Legislature treat the administration ’s assumptions around the health plan tax and private hospital fee as a reasonable starting point.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5146

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - What Are Some Other Key Changes in H.R. 1 to Track? Change in Unsatisfactory Immigration Status (UIS) Definition. Under H.R. 1, more immigrant groups (such as refuges and asylees) will have UIS beginning October 2026.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5092

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

Oct 24, 2025 - In revisiting the Medi ‑Cal program, the Legislature faces three key questions: (1)  who should Medi ‑Cal serve, (2)  what per ‑enrollee service level should Medi ‑Cal provide, and (3)  what non ‑General Fund financing options are available?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5083

An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

Jun 12, 2025 - What Is the Capacity of the Laboratory System? While there is no single metric to assess the laboratory system capacity, there are a few metrics that could inform an assessment of the system ’s abilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5056

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - As a result, annual Medi-Cal General Fund spending could be as much as several billion dollars higher or lower than what is reflected in our outlook. Below, we su mmarize our outlook results and describe these key areas of uncertainty.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4941

The 2025-26 Budget: MCO Tax and Proposition 35

Feb 26, 2025 - Under the increases, Medi-Cal fee-for-service rates for these services equal 87.5  percent of what the federal Medicare program pays. Trailer bill legislation enacted in the 2023-24 budget also requires health plans to pay at least this level for these services in the Medi-Cal managed care system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4992

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

Mar 6, 2025 - This means that to explain what is driving recent increases in the senior caseload, we need to account for about 225,000 seniors in excess of this pre ‑pandemic policy baseline (hereafter, “senior growth due to policy changes ”).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5010

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

Mar 6, 2025 - For example, the very high utilization rates of Medically Tailored Meals in two counties, by two plans using the same provider, may indicate more demand for the benefit above what is currently being provided .
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5003

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - What Are Glucagon‑Like Peptide‑1 (GLP‑1) Agonists? GLP ‑1 agonists are a type of drug that help regulate blood sugar, generally by stimulating the release of insulin in the body. Use of these drugs also can result in weight loss among patients.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026