Posted on September 15, 2010

California HealthCare Foundation Launches Initiatives to Help State Implement Healthcare Legislation

The Oakland-based California HealthCare Foundation has announced a shift in strategy designed to sharpen its program focus and adapt to the new healthcare environment ushered in by passage of the federal Accountable Care Act of 2010.

Among other things, the foundation has launched a Health Reform and Public Programs initiative to provide hands-on analytic and technical assistance to the state's health reform implementation team on insurance exchange design and governance issues. CHCF will also work with the state to develop options and recommendations for implementing select provisions of the legislation and promote efficient solutions to the challenge of determining whether millions of Californians are eligible for insurance subsidies or public coverage.

In addition, the just-launched Innovations for the Underserved program will focus on encouraging, testing, and promoting lower-cost models of care while the foundation works to catalyze the growth of low-cost, efficiently designed healthcare products and services that provide accessible, high-quality care to underserved Californians. To that end, CHCF will expand its use of program-related investment strategies to spark healthcare innovation for underserved populations.

While CHCF's Market and Policy Monitor program will continue to work to promote greater transparency and accountability in the state's healthcare system, the program also will expand its efforts to advance reporting on healthcare provider and insurer performance, especially in the area of physician-level performance reporting. And through its Better Chronic Disease Care program, the foundation will work to expand the number of providers who effectively care for patients with chronic conditions through greater engagement with patients and families and the use of technology.

"As part of our strategy review, we also spent time looking at the way we communicate who we are and how we pursue our philanthropic mission," said CHCF president and CEO Mark D. Smith. "We've found over the years that it is important to step back and review the way we think of ourselves and our work so others gain a clearer understanding of our role in improving the health of Californians."