In the United States, Medicaid is a government program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by state governments, which also have wide latitude in determining eligibility and benefits, but the federal government sets baseline standards for state Medicaid programs and provides a significant portion of their funding.
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
Teledentistry is the use of information technology and telecommunications for dental care, consultation, education, and public awareness.
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition, the CPUC regulates common carriers, including household goods movers, limousines, rideshare services, self-driving cars, and rail crossing safety. The CPUC has headquarters in the Civic Center district of San Francisco, and field offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
The California Medical Assistance Program is the California implementation of the federal Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults with incomes below 138% of federal poverty level. Benefits include ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, dental (Denti-Cal), vision, and long-term care and support. Medi-Cal was created in 1965 by the California Medical Assistance Program a few months after the national legislation was passed. Approximately 15.28 million people were enrolled in Medi-Cal as of September 2022, or about 40% of California's population; in most counties, more than half of eligible residents were enrolled as of 2020.
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is a California state agency for many of the programs defined as part of the social safety net in the United States, and is within the auspices of the California Health and Human Services Agency. Federal and State funds for adoptions, the largest SNAP program in the country, CalWORKs program, foster care, aid for people with disabilities, family crisis counseling, subsistence payments to poor families with children, child welfare services and many other efforts are distributed through this department.
The Delta Dental Plans Association, also known as simply Delta Dental, is an American network of dental insurance companies composed of 39 independent Delta Dental members operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These member companies provide coverage to 85 million people, enrolled in over 157,000 groups. While many of the Delta Dental member companies and Delta Dental Plans Association (DDPA) are non-profit organizations, a few of the member companies have for-profit segments.
The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) is a state cabinet-level agency within the government of California. The mission of CalEPA is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality.
Healthy San Francisco is a health access program launched in 2007 to subsidize medical care for uninsured residents of San Francisco, California operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The program's stated objective is to bring universal health care to the city.
The Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) is a regulatory body governing managed health care plans, including Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and most Medi-Cal managed care plans in California. The DMHC was created as the first state department in the country solely dedicated to regulating managed health care plans and assisting consumers to resolve disputes with their health plans. The DMHC Help Center educates consumers about their health care rights, resolves consumer complaints, helps consumers navigate and understand their coverage and assists consumers in getting timely access to appropriate health care services.
The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) is the state agency tasked with administration and oversight of "state and federal programs for health care, social services, public assistance and rehabilitation" in the U.S. state of California. The agency is headed by the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, with headquarters in Sacramento. Many of the laws in the California Health and Safety Codes are enforced by it.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is the state department responsible for public health in California. It is a subdivision of the California Health and Human Services Agency. It enforces some of the laws in the California Health and Safety Codes, notably the licensing of some types of healthcare facilities. One of its functions is to oversee vital records operations throughout the state.
The Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County is a public agency that provides health insurance for low-income individuals in Los Angeles County through four health coverage programs including Medi-Cal.
The California Children's Services (CCS) Program, established in 1927, is a partnership between state and counties that provides medical case management for children in California diagnosed with serious chronic diseases. It provides services to more than 165,000 children in California.
Welfare in California consists of federal welfare programs—which are often at least partially administered by state and county agencies—and several independent programs, which are usually administered by counties.
The Government Operations Agency (CalGovOps) is the California government agency responsible for administering state operations including procurement, real estate, information technology, and human resources. Amy Tong was appointed Secretary of Government Operations by Governor Gavin Newsom in March of 2022. Previously, the role was held by Secretary Yolanda Richardson and Secretary Marybel Batjer, who was appointed as the inaugural agency secretary in June 2013 by then-Governor Jerry Brown.
This article summarizes healthcare in California.
Partnership HealthPlan of California, is an independent, public/private organization serving over 950,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries in 24 northern California counties: Butte County, Colusa County, Del Norte County, Humboldt County, Glenn County, Lake County, Lassen County, Marin County, Mendocino County, Modoc County, Napa County, Nevada County, Placer County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Sierra County, Siskiyou County, Solano County, Sonoma County, Sutter County, Tehama County, Trinity County, Yolo County, Yuba County. It began operations as a County Organized Health System in 1994, and is currently the largest Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan in Northern California.
The Surgeon General of California is the leading spokesperson on matters of public health within the State of California. The Surgeon General is one of only five State Surgeons General in the United States. The office was created on January 7, 2019, by Governor Gavin Newsom and requires confirmation from the California State Senate.
Western Dental & Orthodontics is a chain of dental offices based in Orange, California, United States. It was founded in 1903 in Los Angeles. Western Dental has almost 250 offices in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, making it one of the largest dental service providers in the United States. Up to 70% of its California patients are covered under the state's Denti-Cal health insurance program for low-income families.
