CSAC and a wide ranging group of our affiliates continue to
engage on potential federal action on healthcare issues and are
opposed to the bill recently introduced by Senators Cassidy,
Graham, Heller, and Johnson to dramatically change the ACA.
The measure would reverse the significant progress California has
made in reducing the number of uninsured residents by reducing
the amount of Medicaid funding available.
Assembly Member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas notified counties this
week that he would not continue to move AB 1603 through the
legislative process. The measure, which was opposed by CSAC as
well as CHEAC, CAPH, CBHDA, as well as psychiatrists and others,
would have allowed all private contractors who contract with
counties to join in the collective bargaining process with county
union employees. It is now a two-year bill, which means that the
bill will not move forward during this year’s legislative
session.
In the next few weeks, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be hosting webinars
of interest to CSAC members. More details on the webinars are
below:
September 6 – Supporting Families Affected by Opioid and Other
Substance Use Disorders
Congress is running up against a September 30 fiscal deadline to
reappropriate federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance
Program (CHIP). California serves about 1.6 million low-income
children and mothers by drawing down nearly half a billion
dollars annually in CHIP funding.
CSAC is opposing AB 1603, a measure by Assembly Member Sebastian
Ridley-Thomas that would allow all private contractors who
contract with counties to join in the collective bargaining
process with county union employees. The sponsors of the bill,
the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, have indicated
that they intend to amend the bill to apply only to licensed
professionals within county public hospitals and health systems,
but the current, far broader version is up in the Senate
Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 28.
Counties now have some guidance on the implementation of AB 1299
(Chapter 603, Statutes of 2016), which was developed to ensure
timely behavioral health services for foster children who are
placed in a county other than the one in which they lived.
AB 85 (Rodriguez) will not move forward this year after being
held in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on July 11. This
means it will not meet the July 14 deadline to be passed by
relevant policy committees.
An estimated 117 million adults in the United States have one or
more chronic health conditions, and one in four adults have two
or more chronic health conditions. The Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) is trying to raise awareness about that,
and about the resources available to help people. An upcoming
webinar is part of that effort.
Earlier this week, the Legislature passed a budget trailer bill
that included a solution for the reversion of unused Prevention
and Early Intervention and Innovation funds under the Mental
Health Services Act (MHSA, or Proposition 63 of 2004). It will
now move to the Governor’s desk for his signature or veto.
CSAC, along with the County Welfare Directors Association, Urban
Counties of California, and Rural County Representatives of
California, recently moved to an oppose position on AB 85
(Rodriguez). This bill would require counties to alter their
locally-established General Assistance (GA) or General Relief
(GR) eligibility levels to provide additional county-funded
assistance to veterans.
The second round of Whole Person Care Pilot Projects was just
announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The
goal of the Whole Person Care Pilots is to expand efforts to
provide comprehensive health care to medically-complex patients.
Of the 15 pilots approved in the second round, eight of the
pilots build upon previously-approved pilots.
Grants of up to $350,000, for as long as three years, are available from the Office of Minority Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The grants, available through the Empowered Communities for a Healthier Nation Initiative, are aimed at reducing the impact of significant health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged populations by implementing evidence-based strategies.
As both houses prepare to vote on the final 2017-18 Budget Act, there are a number of HHS-related items that will be included. Please refer to the forthcoming CSAC Budget Action Bulletin for more detail on the following:
California’s counties continue to communicate significant
concerns with current efforts underway in the U.S. Senate to
repeal the fiscal underpinnings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
and impose a new cap on federal Medicaid spending. Senate
leadership has indicated that they hope to vote on the new plan,
which builds off of the lower house’s American Health Care Act,
the week of June 26. However, work on the proposal continues in
secret and it is unclear whether counties will have a chance to
weigh in before the vote.
CSAC is supporting two additional health and mental
health-related budget issues in Budget Conference Committee this
week. The first has to do with a proposal from CSAC Affiliate
California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
(CAPH) to use existing public hospital funding as a match to
resurrect a sorely-needed Graduate Medical Education (GME)
program. The second asks for more time for counties to create
brick-and-mortar locations offering services for individuals
experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
The AB 85 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2013) estimates for
redirecting 1991 Realignment health subaccount funding released
in the May Revision contained an error in the calculation for
County Medical Services Program (CMSP) redirections.
CSAC has joined a chorus of counties and county human services
departments to support funding for local California Work
Opportunity and responsibility to Kids Act (CalWORKs) activities,
called the county CalWORKs Single Allocation.
