Medi-Cal covers health care for roughly half of California’s children. That’s over five million kids.
At Children Now, we fight to ensure all kids have timely access to the preventive care Medi-Cal provides that keeps them healthy (like check-ups, shots, and health screenings).
- We research and advance solutions to improve program oversight and implementation, so all kids can get critical treatments for physical, mental, behavioral, and dental health problems.
- We are committed to eliminating structural barriers behind the racial, ethnic and other health disparities that prevent so many of our state’s kids and families from accessing the healthcare and services they need to thrive.
How We’ve Improved Medi-Cal for Kids
Eliminated premiums for over 500,000 children, pregnant people, and individuals with disabilities (Learn how this win happened)
Advanced new services that better identify and remedy asthma triggers
Passed legislation to ensure that California’s kids receive the developmental screenings they are entitled to (See how The Children’s Movement of California helped make this happen)
Now available!
Chartbook: Preventive Services for Kids in Medi-Cal
Children Now reviewed eight indicators from the Preventive Services Reports covering the 2019–2022 periods of care for California children and youth in Medicaid (Medi-Cal).
In this chartbook, we have summarized our topline statewide findings and provided data visualizations in four key areas of children’s preventive services: wellchild visits; immunizations; screenings; and vision and oral health care.
Our Work on Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal Children’s Preventive Services
Medi-Cal provides important preventive care that keeps kids healthy, and Children Now played a leading role in the rate of infants receiving check-ups increasing by 31% from 2020 to 2022. Still, millions of children in Medi-Cal don’t get the preventive care they’re entitled to due to limited access and poor oversight. Children Now enthusiastically supports the state’s urgent goal to improve utilization of preventive care for children and youth and reduce persistent disparities.
Implementation of Enhanced Care Management (ECM) for Children and Youth
A new Medi-Cal benefit called Enhanced Care Management (ECM) aims to make accessing care a lot smoother for some of the most vulnerable populations of kids in the state (along with other groups), by coordinating their care across service providers and delivery systems.
Caregiver Advocacy Circle
In response to the needs of caregivers advocating for better health policies and programs, we’ve partnered with fellow caregiver advocates to create a peer-driven Caregiver Advocacy Circle.
Closed Loop Referrals and Warm Handoffs
As health systems grow more complex, it is imperative that children and youth can access the array of services they need. Health and social service providers use referrals to connect children and youth to other health or social services when needs are identified through screenings or other interactions.
Other Medi-Cal Projects and Research Products
Medi-Cal Excellence in Early Childhood Outcomes Collaborative
CoveredTil26 Campaign
Medi-Cal Managed Care in California Counties
Additional Resources
- Medi-Cal for Kids & Teens Website outlines what benefits are covered in Medi-Cal and where to find help.
- Medi-Cal covers more than just kids – learn who qualifies here
- Californians struggling to get or maintain health coverage, or seeking help to resolve problems with their health plans, may be able to get free over-the-phone or in-person assistance from the Health Consumer Alliance