Policy Brief: Collaborative Courts and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in California
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, November 1, 2018
This policy brief provides an overview of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in California’s collaborative courts. MAT is the leading evidence-based method for treating addiction that involves both medication and behavioral health interventions. Medications for opioid use disorder include three pharmacologic agents approved by the Food and Drug Administration: methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone.
Orange County Mental Health Services Act Audit. Review of Finances, Decision-making & Contracting. A report presented to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. October 2018.
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, October 29, 2018
In response to concerns about Orange County’s Mental Health Service Act (MHSA) program, the Orange County Board of Supervisors engaged California Health Policy Strategies, LLC (CalHPS) to undertake an analysis of current processes and to make recommendations for improvements. The CalHPS’s team conducted approximately 50 interviews over the past six months to gather data. Additionally, …
New Funding Opportunities for Reentry & Justice-Involved Individuals: Mental Health, Housing, and Diversion
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, September 4, 2018
This policy brief outlines new funding provided in the 2018-19 state budget for programs aimed at addressing the pressing mental health and homelessness crisis, and new options for diversion. Also referenced are funding opportunities in the 2016-2017 and 2017-18 Budget Act. These new programs create a unique opportunity for leveraging state and local resources that …
Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans: Diabetes Care HEDIS Measures – August 2018
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, August 27, 2018
Both Medi-Cal Managed Care plans and commercial plans are required to report common health outcome measures called HEDIS (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set) scores.
Policy Brief: Toward Universal Coverage: State Alternatives to the Federal Individual Mandate
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, July 18, 2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law at the end of 2017, included a provision that effectively eliminated the shared responsibility payment for individuals failing to maintain minimum essential coverage. Effective in 2019, the penalty associated with the shared responsibility payment is now reduced to $0.
Policy Brief: Whole Person Care Pilots Focusing on the Reentry Population: Overview of County Plans
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, June 11, 2018
The Whole Person Care (WPC) Pilot program is designed to coordinate health, behavioral health, and social services to improve the health outcomes of Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are high utilizers of the healthcare system. Collaborative leadership and systematic coordination among public and private entities is used to meet this goal. The WPC Pilot entities identify target …
Policy Brief: EMSA Paramedicine Pilots – Estimating Statewide Medi-Cal Savings
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, May 13, 2018
This document presents the results of an analysis of California’s Community Paramedicine Pilot program with the aim of estimating the potential for Medi-Cal program savings if the services provided under the pilots were expanded more broadly throughout the state. Combining all the pilot concepts analyzed here, we estimate a potential general fund savings ranging from …
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Reentry Health Policy Project: Overview and Policy Briefs – March 2018
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, March 11, 2018
The Reentry Health Policy Project is working to (1) identify state and county-level policies and practices that impede the delivery of effective health and behavioral health care services for formerly incarcerated individuals who are medically fragile (MF) and living with serious mental illness (SMI), as they return to the community; (2) find best practices that …
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A Collaborative Approach for Patients with Diabetes
By California Health Policy Strategies, LLC
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, January 18, 2018
As front-line health care providers, optometrists are seeing alarming increases in the prevalence of diabetes among their patients. In response, the California Optometric Association (COA) has spearheaded a statewide effort to improve prevention, early intervention and treatment of this deadly disease. Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans. Lower income individuals have significantly higher incidence of diabetes, but …
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How Many Incarcerated Individuals Received Psychotropic Medication in California Jails: 2012-2017
By Konrad Franco, David Panush, and David-Maxwell-Jolly
California Health Policy Strategies, LLC, January 17, 2018
This policy brief uses data from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to estimate the number of jail inmates who receive psychotropic medication and assess the relative representation of this group among the jail population. To provide a measure of the prevalence of mental illness in jail, we reviewed data from 45 counties …