4260 Department of Health Care Services
Major Program Changes
  • Extension of Full Scope Medi-Cal Coverage to Undocumented Children - Chapter 18, Statutes of 2015 (SB 75) expands full scope Medi-Cal benefits to 170,000 undocumented children under 19 years of age. The Administration anticipates the provision of this benefit to begin by May 1, 2016.

  • Medi-Cal 1115 Waiver Renewal - California received federal approval for the Medi-Cal Section 1115 "Medi-Cal 2020" Waiver, effective January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020. The agreement between the state and the federal government will enable California to continue the delivery system transformation of public hospital systems and implement new efforts to further improve services across the Medi-Cal program.

  • General Fund share for Medicaid Optional Expansion - The Budget includes a state share in the costs of the optional expansion population under federal health care reform. Beginning in 2017, the state assumes a 5-percent share of the costs and by 2020-21, the federal share will have decreased to 90 percent and the state will pay 10 percent.

  • Expiration of Hospital Quality Assurance Fee - Current law authorizes a quality assurance fee on applicable general acute care hospitals until December 31, 2016. The fee is matched with federal funds to provide supplemental payments to these hospitals, direct grants to designated public hospitals, increased capitation payments to managed health care plans and payments to mental health plans, and offsets the state costs of providing health care coverage for children. The Budget does not include an extension of this fee after its expiration.

  • Managed Care Organization Tax - The Budget proposes a tax reform package to extend a federally-allowable managed care organization tax. Given the uncertainty of passage of the tax, the Budget assumes that revenues from the tax be placed in a special fund and be used to restore the 7 percent reduction to the In-Home Supportive Services program. The Budget assumes the tax is in place for three years starting in 2016-17.