Jul, 26, 2022

California’s Medi-Cal Program Aims to Advance Health Equity for Pregnant People

Medicaid programs collectively are the largest insurer of births in the U.S., covering 42 percent of all births. California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, pays for more than 50 percent of births in the state. That’s nearly five percent of all births in the U.S., and over 11 percent of all Medicaid births nationally. With new budget initiatives, a California Momnibus Act, and a new Medicaid transformation initiative called California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, California is seeking to advance more whole-person care for pregnant and birthing people, and to ensure and expand access to reproductive healthcare. This Center for Health Care Strategies Policy Cheat Sheet explores what these new initiatives mean for maternity and reproductive healthcare in California, and why other states may want to pay attention.