The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC) was recently awarded grant funding from the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) to lead continued efforts to expand access to palliative care for individuals covered by Medi-Cal. The grant will support the creation of a “Learning Community” for Medi-Cal managed care plans focused on implementation and improvement of SB 1004 (Statutes 2014), also known as the Palliative Care in Medi-Cal bill.
CCCC was a key supporter SB 1004, which passed the Legislature with overwhelming and bipartisan support. The bill was designed to expand access to home-based palliative care services for beneficiaries of Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs), which serve more than half of all people in the Medi-Cal program. With funding from CHCF, CCCC has led initiatives over the past several years to increase beneficiaries’ access to and use of high-quality home-based palliative care through the successful implementation of SB 1004 and drive its improvement through technical assistance, strategy exchange, and development of shared resources and tools related to SB 1004 palliative care programs and services. (Read more about CCCC’s past work on
SB 1004 here; you can also peruse CHCF’s
SB 1004 Resource Center here.)
This current grant builds on the past success of these initiatives to support continued collaboration with MCPs and other key stakeholders throughout the state and to drive improvement of MCP’s palliative care administration in the context of recent CalAIM reforms. (
Click here to read more about CalAIM.) This new 22-month project will include continued engagement of stakeholders and creation of an ongoing Learning Community.
Key activities of the grant will include:
- Presenting nine bi-monthly webinars for MCPs;
- Hosting regularly-scheduled support calls with MCPs;
- Conducting two annual statewide surveys of MCPs and participating providers; and
- Hosting two annual virtual convenings.
“CCCC is excited to continue our work on expanding access to palliative care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries,” said CCCC CEO Judy Thomas, JD. “Palliative care can truly transform the lives of those living with serious illness by offering a holistic approach to care. Our challenge now is to make sure palliative care is available to everyone who needs it, and this Learning Community for MCPs and palliative providers serving Medi-Cal beneficiaries will help us make important progress.”
Click here to read about additional work CCCC has been engaged in to expand access to palliative care.