A report released Thursday from the Legislative Analyst’s Office considers how California’s health and human services (HHS) programs could be further aligned and streamlined amid continuing changes brought on by federal health-care reform.
The study notes that while the Affordable Care Act in many ways encourages further integration through automation, the Act also makes delivering Medi-Cal and other services more challenging. Nonetheless, California’s HHS programs have achieved a "moderate" level of integration, the report concludes.
"The state has moved further down the continuum of integration toward a more integrated HHS delivery system," the report says, adding that more programs could someday be integrated with Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKs – the three programs that are the report’s focus.
With the onset of the Affordable Care Act, LAO summarizes three options California considered:
1. Adding ACA eligibility and enrollment functions to the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia.
2. Developing a Centralized Eligibility and Enrollment System for ACA, linking to counties for Medi-Cal processing and case management.
3. Developing a Centralized Eligibility and Enrollment System for ACA, including All Medi-Cal Eligibility Determinations
The state chose the second option and went forward with a new automation system called the California Health Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERS).
The report notes that new projects in support of system integration would require legislative support and possibly changes to existing law.
Read the full report on the LAO’s website here.
