2023 Legislative Wrap Up

As the 2023 legislative session has come to an end, it’s time to reflect on the considerable strides made by community health centers (CHCs), especially in a year the Governor projected a $31.5 billion budget shortfall. Your staunch advocacy was able to secure funding to help keep patients on Medi-Cal, give health centers infrastructure dollars to build Enhanced Care Management (ECM) or Community Supports programs, increase wages for our health center staff, join a coalition to expand access to care, and ensure your health center financial information remains protected.

On April 1, counties resumed their normal redetermination process for Medi-Cal beneficiaries with a June 2024 renewal date. This process had been paused during the declared public health emergency related to Covid-19. The first disenrollments for those deemed no longer eligible unfortunately began in July. It is estimated that up to 3 million patients could lose Medi-Cal coverage during redetermination. CaliforniaHealth+ Advocates successfully advocated to secure a total of $110 million dollars for health centers in the state budget over the next two years. This includes a one-time infusion of $20M ($10 million General Fund/$10 million federal match) to support the Health Enrollment Navigators program. The California Primary Care Association (CPCA) will disburse the funding directly to CHCs to assist in their role helping Medi-Cal patients keep their healthcare coverage.

This dedicated health center funding that we fought for in this budget will help keep qualifying individuals on Medi-Cal and receiving vital services. The funding will also help support the influx of new patients, regardless of their immigration status, with the start of the 26-49 aged population being eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal beginning January 1, 2024.

Additionally, CHCs will be eligible to apply and, if selected, receive one-time funding towards the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Initiative. The funding, totaling $40 million, would give health centers infrastructure dollars to build ECM or Community Supports programs. CPCA was also able to secure additional funding in the amount of $50 million in the state budget for CHCs through the Managed Care Organization (MCO) tax. The details for this funding will be further determined in January for allocation in the 2024-25 state budget. CPCA and coalition partners were also able to secure $75 million for Graduate Medical Education.

Another monumental accomplishment was negotiating a compromise on SB 525, the Health Care Worker minimum wage bill. For CHCs, the minimum wage increases will start to scale up to $21 per hour starting on June 1, 2024, completing the phase in by June 1, 2027, at the amount of $25 per hour. Advocates worked relentlessly to reach an agreement that will increase the wages for CHC staff, while ensuring health centers will have the opportunity to prepare for the new law to kick in. The negotiations also provided an off-ramp or alternative phase-in schedule for those health centers that can prove it cannot meet the wage increase requirements of the new law. Additionally, the deal secured a moratorium on local ballot initiatives or local ordinances, until at least June 2027, to further increase the minimum wage that is inconsistent with the law. While we were unable to secure additional funding to cover the costs associated with the wage increase in the negotiations, we are committed to continue pursuing new revenue sources through the MCO tax and advance PPS reform through legislative and administrative advocacy.

CPCA is working to provide comprehensive support and resources for our members as this policy goes into effect. You can find informational resources regarding how the new law applies to CHCs, upcoming trainings, and office hours dates on our SB 525 implementation page. If you have any questions regarding the law, you can email them to sb525@cpca.org.

CPCA is also excited to be a part of the Coalition to Protect Access to Care. The coalition is a group of healthcare providers that came together and filed a ballot measure to permanently use dedicated funding to expand access to health care and support Medi-Cal providers. The initiative follows a 2023-24 budget proposal to draw down existing federal funding to expand access to care. Specifically, the MCO tax will raise $19.4 billion between April 2023 and December 2026. The measure will build on the historic investment that the Governor and Legislature have made, by extending the funding to ensure increased access and better care for years to come. The CPCA team will work closely with our coalition partners to ensure that the initiative passes in November of 2024 guaranteeing health center patients have more access to care.

Finally, AB 616 was vetoed by the Governor. Advocates was in opposition to this bill because it would have allowed CHCs that have created risk-bearing organizations and partnering organizations’ financial information to be disclosed to any person or organization upon request. The bill would have disincentivized CHCs from taking on more risks for the sake of improved patient outcomes because of the ability to have its financial information disclosed to potential adversarial persons or entities.

In 2023 we were able to make incredible progress for the communities that we serve. Thank you for your commitment and dedication to the mission. We look forward to your partnership in the coming year as we take on bold new challenges and respond to any major threats.