The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Mar 2, 2026 - The Governor ’s budget assumes the state receives retroactive approval for a private hospital fee for 2025, but that the fee is about equal to its level in 2024, rather than the much larger level originally submitted for approval.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5146

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - Additionally, California does not require that individuals need an institutional level of care to receive services, whereas some other states maintain such a requirement. Further, unlike other states, the Lanterman Act does not impose any time limits on eligibility.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - With no further loan planned under current law in 2026 ‑27, the General Fund will need to cover costs moving forward (the current state spending plan envisions gradually paying off this loan over more than a decade).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5092

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

Oct 24, 2025 - H.R.  1 further accomplishes federal savings by changing rules around federal funding for comprehensive coverage and limited coverage (pregnancy and emergency ‑related care). We  describe these changes below.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5083

An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

Jun 12, 2025 - The state public health laboratory acts as the reference laboratory for the state, and as such, provides more complex testing services needed to further characterize pathogens identified at the local level.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5056

The 2025-26 Budget: Health Care Access and Information

Feb 20, 2025 - This is because (1)  generic drugs often do not require the same level of research and development to go to market and (2)  entry of generic drugs creates market competition that drives down prices. As   Figure  6 shows, while brand drugs represented a small share of commercial health plan fee‑for‑service claims in 2021, they comprised a majority of spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4979

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - Within these 30 kinds of drugs, the majority treat diabetes (or other related issues, described further below), certain other autoimmune or inflammatory diseases (such as arthritis or psoriasis), and mental illness.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026

The 2024-25 Budget: Department of Health Care Access and Information

Feb 27, 2024 - These expansions have come with additional staffing, with HCAI ’s existing workforce development staffing levels about 60  percent higher in 2023 ‑24 compared to the authorized level when the 2017 ‑18 budget was enacted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4860

The 2024-25 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Feb 14, 2024 - Further Ties Physician and Professional Payments to Medicare Level. Under the plan, most base payments for primary care, obstetrics, non ‑specialty mental health care, specialty care, and emergency physician services would be tied to a percent of the Medicare level on an ongoing basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4838

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Health

Oct 16, 2025 - (These savings are distinct from state operations budget solutions enacted as part of the 2024-25 Budget Act , which directed DOF to identify efficiencies to reduce state costs without diminishing service levels.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5075