Californians, like the rest of the country, are facing significant mental health challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic. The need for new and enhanced behavioral health supports and interventions has come into strong focus in recent years and states are leveraging their Medicaid programs to respond.

Thanks to tireless advocacy combined with impressive outcomes data, funding was allocated in the California state budget to support the continuation of the program. This is a prime example of how initial federal investments can ultimately lead to long-term sustainability of successful programs.

When Aurrera Health launched the ACEs Aware initiative on behalf of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) in late 2019, we knew we were on the forefront of change.

States are leveraging American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to support a multi-faceted policy approach to strengthening state health care infrastructure and the health workforce.

The health care system is moving toward acknowledging substance use disorders (SUD) as chronic illnesses, yet only about 10% of people with an SUD in the last year received treatment.

Since the fall of 2019, Aurrera Health Group has been working closely with the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to launch the ACEs Aware initiative – a first-in-the-nation, statewide effort to promote screening for early detection of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and mitigate against the health and societal impacts of ACEs and toxic stress.

By Trish Violett, Junior Policy Consultant and Megan Thomas, Director, Quality Initiatives

Over the past four years, the 52 hospitals and health systems participating in the California Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal (PRIME) program have been working to improve care delivery and maximize health care value through a “pay-for-performance” model. The PRIME hospitals are using evidence-based quality improvement methods to achieve designated goals and outcomes on select clinical projects and associated performance metrics.