PopHealth Podcast Gavin Ward

The California Medical Association has partnered with Health Tech 4 Medicaid (HT4M) at its upcoming 2nd annual CMA HIT Summit, "Health IT In the Safety Net." HT4M's founder Adimika Arthur, whose career has been instrumental in ensuring access to care, joins the show to share the importance of Health IT on health equity and ensuring a safety net for those that may otherwise struggle to get the care they need.

From the highlights and challenges in 2023 to what to expect in 2024 and beyond, Gavin discusses CalAIM with guests Michel Huizar, Branch Chief, DHCS Managed Care Quality and Monitoring Division, and Dora Barilla, Co-Founder, HC² Strategies.

Michael's history with health plans and advocacy played a key role in his recruitment to lead C4A, an organization established to advocate and collaborate on behalf of California's "Triple As." Michael shares how his organization supports older adults throughout the state and what their focus is in 2024 and ahead.

Under the California Department of Health Care Access and Information, Elizabeth shares how the newly created Officer of Healthcare Affordability is helping the most populous state to manage healthcare costs through growth targets and other efforts for 40M Californians.

Over 15M Californians are Medi-Cal beneficiaries, yet there are so many misceptions about Medi-Cal and very few Californians truly understand Medi-Cal eligibility. Lisa shares how she went from an entry level Medi-Cal worker to an expert, where she now leads a team that helps families navigate Medi-Cal, including asset and income limits, or lack thereof.

Beau shares how an initial stint as a temporary worker landed him a role with California's In-Home Supportive Sevices that became a springboard into his career as he ultimately become well versed in California's long term supports (LTSS) and services as well as home and community based services (HCBS). That foundation has helpd Beau become one of Anthem and California's leaders for the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM).