California Medicare Collaborative

California’s over-65 population is diversifying and growing faster than any other age group. By 2030, it will represent a quarter of the population, which means addressing their unique health and long-term care needs will become critical, requiring creative solutioning for the delivery ecosystem. Medicare beneficiaries tend to have chronic conditions, need a variety of providers and services and may experience daily living challenges, leading to difficulty navigating a complex system of medical and nonmedical services when seeking to live a healthy, safe life at home. Medicare-only individuals are often forgotten in their struggles to finance and access the services and support they need across the health care, behavioral health, and long term services and supports delivery systems.

To address this need, the California Quality Collaborative (CQC), The SCAN Foundation, Archstone Foundation, Gary and Mary West Foundation and Department of Health Care Services Office of Medicare Innovation and Integration, will launch the California Medicare Collaborative, a one-year stakeholder alignment effort beginning in March 2024, dedicated to improving care across the spectrum of Medicare enrollees, including duals, non-duals and those in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs.

Goals and Areas of Focus

The collaborative will focus on the following four areas:

  • Cognitive and behavioral health
  • Chronic illness management and care coordination
  • Support consumer choice in a confusing market
  • Access, equity and disparities in care

CQC’s goal is to gain consensus within each focus area by the end of 2024 on opportunities for action that can be achieved through alignment and partnerships among California delivery system stakeholders and to secure commitment from these stakeholders to support implementation of those action steps following the close of the collaborative.

Participants

CQC, along with the Department of Health Care Services’ Office of Medicare Innovation and Integration (OMII) and our funders, is seeking to involve a wide range of stakeholders. This diverse representation will ensure that a range of organizational perspectives influencing Medicare care delivery in California are considered. Participants will have the opportunity to forge valuable connections with peers and actively contribute to shaping the future direction and strategy of California’s Medicare system.

Support

This program is made possible thanks to the support of The SCAN Foundation, the Archstone Foundation and the Gary and Mary West Foundation, in collaboration with the Department of Health Care Services Office of Medicare Innovation and Integration.

Contact

Lindsay Petersen
Senior Manager, Care Transformation
lpetersen@pbgh.org

Steering Committee

Megan Burke
Program Officer, Policy & Advocacy, The SCAN Foundation
Juliette Cubanski
Deputy Director, Program on Medicare Policy KFF
Anastasia Dodson
Anastasia Dodson, Deputy Director, California Department of Health Care Services
Gerson Galdamez
Program Office, Archstone Foundation
Tiffany Huyenh-Cho
Director, California Medicare & Medicaid Justice in Aging
Dr. Damanpreet Jamarai
Chief Medical Officer, United Healthcare
Caroline Picher
Associate Director, Health Policy, West Health
Kathryn Stambaugh
Geriatric Services Director, LifeLong Medical Care