How to Improve Medi-Cal

California Healthline recently asked a group of experts and thinkers the following three questions:

(1) How can the Medi-Cal system be redesigned to not only deal with many more participants but to encourage a whole new portion of the state’s population to consider Medi-Cal as an option?

(2) For many potential new participants, the thick red tape associated with government programs may be a serious detraction. How can California streamline the process?

(3) In addition to expanding Medi-Cal, California will be setting up a health insurance exchange offering discounted and subsidized coverage for those who don’t qualify for Medi-Cal. Should the state create one screening process to handle both the exchange and Medi-Cal?

They got responses from:

* Alan Weil, Executive director, National Academy for State Health Policy

* Peter Cunningham, Senior fellow, Center for Studying Health System Change

* Lucien Wulsin and Cliff Sarkin, Director and Policy director, ITUP

* Micah Weinberg, Senior research fellow, New America Foundation

* Toby Douglas, Chief deputy director, California Dept. of Health Care Services

* Carmela Castellano-Garcia, President/CEO, California Primary Care Ass’n

* Jack Chou, President, California Academy of Family Physicians

Check out all of the responses, especially (Lucien’s and mine)!