The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - The National Center for Health Statistics found that the prevalence of any diagnosed developmental disability in children aged 3 ‑17 years in the United States increased by about a full percentage point (from 7.40  percent to 8.56  percent) between 2019 and 2021 —a significant change in a short period of time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

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

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

Feb 5, 2025 - The share of Californians aged 12 and over having an SUD in the past year rose nearly 10  percent between 2015 ‑2017 and 2018 ‑2019. The consequences of these behavioral health challenges have also grown more severe.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Health Care Access

May 7, 2021 - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly disrupted children ’s preventive services in Medi-Cal. As the figure in this box shows, utilization of children ’s preventive services is down significantly in 2020 relative to 2019 for a range of Medi-Cal services.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4426

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

Jul 13, 2023 - We estimate that this withdrawal policy would have allowed counties to access prudent reserves three times since 2011-12: in 2011-12 (revenues declined 26  percent year over year), 2019-20 (revenues declined 9  percent), and 2022-23 (revenues declined 35  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4780

The 2024-25 Budget: Future of Public Health Budget Solution

May 21, 2024 - This increase was greatest among Latino and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander populations, whose death rates more than doubled between 2019 and 2022. American Indian/Alaskan Native populations had the highest death rate due to drug overdoses prior to the pandemic and this has persisted with the recent rise.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4904

The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Health

Sep 17, 2024 - The 2019-20 Budget Act provided a $15  million one-time General Fund to support the Networking California Sickle Cell Care Initiative which established a number of sickle cell disease centers across the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4930

The 2024-25 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Feb 13, 2024 - The concept of a master plan has a recent precedent in the state, as California developed a Master Plan for Aging throughout 2019 and 2020. The Governor issued an executive order in June 2019 calling for the Master Plan for Aging in response to anticipated demographic shifts in the state ’s aging population.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4837

The 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - CDPH = California Department of Public Health; COVID ‑19 = coronavirus disease 2019; CHHS = California Health and Human Services Agency; HHS = Health and Human Services; GARE = Government Alliance on Race and Equity; EMSA = Emergency Medical Services Authority; CalAIM = California Advancing and Innovating Medi ‑Cal; ICF ‑DDs = Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432/2