Posted on January 18, 2013

California Endowment Commits $225 Million to Help Implement Affordable Care Act

The California Endowment has announced a four-year, $225 million commitment to help support implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California.

The endowment will support efforts by the state to jumpstart community outreach and enrollment in Medi-Cal and other insurance plans in preparation for major provisions of the law taking effect in January 2014. To that end, the endowment, in partnership with the governor's office and the state Health Benefit Exchange Board — now known as Covered California — will encourage uninsured Californians to take full advantage of the new law's coverage benefits. The endowment also will fund efforts to expand the primary care health workforce, with the aim of creating at least fifteen hundred new primary care health provider jobs in underserved areas of the state, and will work to expand its efforts to improve the management of chronic disease by improving the quality and efficiency of care coordination and team-based care.

In addition, recognizing that the law will leave as many as one million undocumented state residents without coverage, the endowment will explore public and private avenues to provide more consistent care for undocumented Californians who contribute to the economy and civic life.

"We have a golden opportunity to create a healthcare system that is more accessible, more cost-effective, and more prevention-oriented," said Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment. "We offer this commitment in a sense of partnership, with humility about the task before us, but with urgency about the opportunity in front of us."