Summary of Governor’s Proposed Health and Human Services Budget - 2021-22
The HHS budget is $195 billion of which $64 billion is State General Fund. In light of the over-all budget surplus, the proposed cuts in providers’ supplemental payments, reductions in IHSS hours and DDS payment increases are delayed for at least another year until 2022.
The MediCal program is projected to cost $122 billion ($28 billion in General Fund), and enrollment is projected to continue to grow from 13.97 million to 15.6 million due to the Covid recession and job layoffs. It will cover 40% of the state’s population in the coming year.
CCS (California Children’s Services) will cover 14,571 children with serious medical conditions.
CalWorks (California’s version of TANF, used to be AFDC) will cover 482 thousand children and parents. Cost = $5.3 billion.
Cal Fresh (Food Stamps) will help 2.56 million low income Californians with the cost of food.
SSI/SSP will cover 1.2 million low income aged and disabled Californians. Cost = $2.7 billon.
Child Welfare Services will help 111 thousand abused and neglected children.
Foster Care will shelter 58 thousand abused and neglected children.
Adoption assistance will help with the adoptive placements of 89 thousand children.
IHSS will pay for home and community services for 593 thousand low-income frail elderly and severely disabled individuals in their own homes. Cost = $16.6 billion
Regional Centers will help 386 thousand developmentally disabled Californians. Cost = $10.6 billion.
Public Health costs $4.2 billion.
State Mental Hospitals cost $2.6 billion for 6.3 thousand severely mentally ill in state institutional care.
Realignment revenues to state and local governments costs $11 billion help counties pay for behavioral health, public health, law enforcement and indigent care.
The budget points to the following recent state actions as part of the state’s progress towards universal coverage:
1. Premium assistance increased in Covered California
2. State individual mandate
3. Expanding MediCal eligibility to 138% of FPL for seniors
4. Extending MediCal eligibility to young adults regardless of immigrations status
Next steps as proposed in the Governor’s Budget for the coming year:
· Creating An Office of Health Care Affordability
· Linking HIEs (Health Information Exchanges) to exchange patient information
· Improving health equity
· Addressing the needs of California’s growing aged population
· Addressing unmet mental health needs
· Integrating the disparate delivery systems and financial incentives in MediCal (CalAim)
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 1/26/21