On October 29, 2019, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Governor’s office released a proposal for broad delivery system and payment reforms across the Medi-Cal program.
This expansion proposal, formerly known as CalAIM and now called Medi-Cal Healthier California for All, would address many challenges of chronically unsheltered populations – providing funding for tenancy support services, housing navigation services, recuperative care, and could include targeted rental assistance if housing insecurity is tied to inappropriately high utilization of costly health care services. This reform will also change how counties operate behavioral health services, making them more closely integrated and act more like physical health services. To implement this program, the governor’s proposed budget would allocate $695 million effective January 1, 2021, growing to $1.4 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23.