Lisa Wong, PsyD., director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health; Karen Spiegel, supervisor of Riverside County’s District 2; and Sameer Amin, MD, chief medical officer at LA Care Health Plan, shared their perspectives on health reform initiatives at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference. Wong said there is … Read more
California Assembly Health Committee members unanimously passed the Behavioral Health Services Act through Senate Bill 326 during their meeting last month, despite strong opposition from meeting attendees. The bill aims to address the remaining gaps within behavioral healthcare services, and it will be up for a public vote during the March 5th statewide primary election. … Read more
Le Ondra Clark Harvey, PhD, the chief executive officer of the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies, told us she’s focused on embedding equity into the state’s ongoing, large-scale behavioral healthcare reform under the CalAIM waiver. “Our behavioral health providers across the state are really anxious about how things are going to work in … Read more
Karen Larsen, CEO of the Steinberg Institute, is focused on ensuring California’s behavioral health system leads to quality outcomes and holds entities accountable for these outcomes. She said it’s crucial to ensure that the money being directed to behavioral health is yielding positive results. We had the opportunity to chat with Larsen at the 2023 … Read more
Nearly all Michigan healthcare occupations will experience workforce shortages in the next decade, according to a new report. The Michigan Health Council (MHC) was awarded a grant by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to create the Solutions Net, which catalyzes data on healthcare workforce gaps into actionable solutions. The work includes creating a statewide healthcare … Read more
To expand access to community-based mental health and crisis care relating to substance use for Medi-Cal beneficiaries, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently approved coverage of mobile crisis intervention teams. Through these mobile teams, behavioral healthcare providers will be available 24/7 for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are experiencing crises. Mobile crisis teams will … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic altered workforce habits for many organizations, making telework a permanent option for a large variety of workers. Washington health agencies discussed how telework has affected their business practices during a State Government and Elections Committee meeting on Tuesday. Michaela Doelman, assistant director of human resources at the Office of Financial … Read more
Oregon’s 2023 legislative session ended a month ago, and lawmakers passed hundreds of bills despite a historic walkout that halted the advancement of key bills for six weeks. Republican lawmakers held the longest walkout in state history (and the second-longest in the country) over an abortion and transgender healthcare bill (House Bill 2002) and other … Read more
In 1991, Democratic Sen. Joy San Buenaventura was appointed as a per diem district court judge at the age of 32, which made her the youngest judge in Hawaii. By 2020, she was elected to the Hawaii Senate, where she currently chairs the committee on Health and Human Services. Buenaventura recently spoke with State of … Read more
During its regular session this year, the Texas Legislature passed a $321.3 billion ($144 billion in general funds) state budget for the 2024-2025 biennium, more than a third or $102 billion of which would be devoted to health and human services. The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and the Departments of Family … Read more