Financial Stability
Stabilizing Public Health Care System Financing
California’s 17 public health care systems provide a disproportionate share of the state’s Medi-Cal and uninsured care and serve as the core of California’s health care safety net.
Public health care systems provide care to 3.4 million Californians each year, including patients with complex medical, behavioral health and social needs. Despite this role, public health care systems continue to operate under longstanding structural financing inequities that leave significant portions of care underfunded.
Today, public health care systems face growing financial pressure driven by rising health care costs, workforce shortages, increasing demand for services and ongoing instability in state and federal health care funding.
Current threats include:
- Federal Medicaid funding reductions proposed and enacted under H.R. 1
- State budget pressures affecting Medi-Cal financing, supplemental payments and enrollment eligibility
- Longstanding unreimbursed costs associated with caring for Medi-Cal and uninsured patients
- Increasing operational and infrastructure costs across the safety net
Public health care systems continue to face significant financial uncertainty tied to ongoing federal Medicaid policy changes and state budget pressures. Recent federal actions, including H.R. 1, are expected to have major implications for Medi-Cal financing, supplemental payment programs and coverage stability across California’s health care safety net.
CAPH advances state and federal policy solutions to stabilize public health care system financing, protect access to care, and sustain California’s safety net.
CAPH is actively engaged in state and federal advocacy efforts to help mitigate these impacts, protect access to care and support the long-term stability of public health care systems. For the latest information on current advocacy priorities and policy developments, visit CAPH’s State Advocacy and Federal Advocacy pages.
CAPH advances state and federal policy solutions to stabilize public health care system financing, protect access to care, and sustain California’s safety net.