Medi-Cal: health care coverage.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, in consultation with specified entities, to develop a plan to enact comprehensive reforms to the California health care system and to make recommendations for statutory changes necessary to implement the plan. The plan would include strategies to accomplish various goals, including, but not limited to, expanding health care coverage for low- and moderate-income children and adults through a shared responsibility approach that includes contributions from individuals, employers, and the government, and reducing the number of uninsured persons in the state. The agency would be required to provide the plan and recommendations to the Legislature no later than April 1, 2010.