​​​​News​

​This page captures the latest news about the Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports initiatives and the signific​​ant steps California is taking to break down the traditional walls of health care and coordinate care for high-need members.

Now Available: New Data Confirms Community Supports Improve Outcomes and Cut Costs​​

In its June 3, 2025 News Release, DHCS cited supporting data from the Community Supports Annual Report to show Community Supports are successful and cost-effective. The data show that Community Supports are delivering on their promise to address Medi-Cal member needs—reducing avoidable emergency department visits, hospital stays, and long-term care use while showing strong early signs of cost savings. All 12 Community Supports studied are reducing costs, and of these, nine have already demonstrated cost-effectiveness within the initial study period. The remaining three are projected to reach that threshold over a longer study period, consistent with federal rules for evaluating cost-effectiveness. Please see this Community Supports fact sheet ​for more information.​

Report Release: Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports Quarterly Implementation Report through Q2 2024​

On December 20, 2024, DHCS released the latest Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports quarterly report covering data from January 2022 through June 2024. ECM provides high-touch, team-based care management for Medi-Cal members with complex needs, while Community Supports offer cost-effective, medically appropriate alternatives to traditional services, addressing social determinants of health like housing and nutrition. Together, these initiatives are critical to ensuring holistic, person-centered care that improves health outcomes and quality of life for Medi-Cal members. The report demonstrates sustained, quarter-over-quarter growth in both ECM and Community Supports use, as additional populations of focus become eligible for ECM and more services are offered across the state.

The report also provides the first data on ECM members in the newly introduced Birth Equity Population of Focus (POF) and the Individuals Transitioning from Incarceration POF, both of which were launched or expanded in January 2024.

Key findings included 244,750 Medi-Cal members receiving ECM benefits, with 127,024 members served in Q2 2024. This represents a more than 50% increase in quarterly ECM members since Q2 2023. About 239,500 members used Community Supports services, and 89% of Medi-Cal members had access to at least 10 services. This represents a more than 120% increase in quarterly Community Supports members since Q2 2023. In Q2 2024, more than 59% of members using Community Supports accessed Medically Tailored Meals/Medically Supportive Foods, and approximately 35% accessed one or more services from the Housing Trio (Housing Transition Navigation Services, Housing Tenancy and Sustaining Services, and Housing Deposits).

New Policies to Streamline Access to ECM​

DHCS is releasing new policies that will streamline and improve access to ECM by standardizing referrals and expediting the authorization process. DHCS worked extensively with stakeholders to develop statewide ECM Referral Standards​ and an updated ECM presumptive authorization policy​. Both policies take effect on January 1, 2025, and MCPs are currently operationalizing the new guidance. This adds to a series of reforms DHCS has made to streamline access to ECM and Community Supports outlined in the 2023 ECM/Community Supports Action Plan.

 The ECM Referral Standards define the information all MCPs will collect via ECM referrals. Entities making referrals to ECM will submit the same information in their ECM referrals across counties and MCPs rather than navigating different information requirements across referral forms or batch templates. Additionally, MCPs may not require additional documentation (e.g., ICD-10 codes, supplemental checklists, or Treatment Authorization Request (TAR) forms) from referring partners or ECM providers beyond the information provided in the ECM referral to authorize ECM. The goal is to reduce barriers and burdens for referring entities and support DHCS' goal that the majority of ECM referrals come from the community, which is also associated with increased ECM uptake.

 DHCS is also releasing updated requirements for MCPs to expand the use of ECM presumptive authorization. Select ECM providers already contracted in an MCP's ECM provider network will be able to directly authorize ECM for members and be paid for ECM services during a 30-day timeframe without waiting for an MCP's authorization decision. ECM providers under presumptive authorization will still need to submit a referral to the MCP for full authorization within the 30-day timeframe. The goal is to ensure that select ECM providers can begin providing the ECM benefit immediately when they reach a member without waiting for authorization, which may delay services. For full details on the policy and eligible ECM Providers, please see the updated ECM Policy Guide​.

Addi​tionally, on October 9, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT, DHCS will host an All Comer Webinar to share details on the statewide ECM Referral Standards and ECM presumptive authorization policy. Advanced registration is required. Tribal partners and stakeholders may also direct questions about the new guidance to DHCS at CalAIMECMILOS@dhcs.ca.gov.​

​​CalAIM Transitional Rent Concept Paper for Public Comment

On August 30, DHCS released the Transitional Rent Concept Paper for public comment. The concept paper summarizes the design of Transitional Rent, a new initiative under the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Section 1115 waiver demonstration to provide coverage of rent/temporary housing to Medi-Cal members who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and meet certain additional eligibility criteria. Coverage of Transitional Rent as a Community Supports service will be optional for Medi-Cal managed care plans beginning on January 1, 2025, and it will be a mandatory benefit offered by all plans on January 1, 2026. DHCS will seek input from a broad range of stakeholders on the concept paper.

To improve the well-being and health outcomes of Medi-Cal members during critical transitions or who meet certain high-risk criteria, California seeks to provide up to six months of Transitional Rent services for eligible members who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and transitioning out of institutional levels of care, congregate residential settings, correctional facilities, the child welfare system, recuperative care facilities, short-term post-hospitalization housing, transitional housing, homeless shelters, or interim housing, as well as members who meet the criteria for unsheltered homelessness or for a Full Service Partnership (FSP) program. Transitional Rent services will be provided only if it is determined to be medically appropriate using clinical and other health-related social needs criteria.

DHCS invites the public to comment on this concept paper​. Comments are due by 5 p.m. PT, September 20, 2024. Comments may be submitted to CalAIMECMILOS@dhcs.ca.gov with the subject line “Comments on Transitional Rent."

​​CalAIM for Individuals and Families Experiencing Homelessness

​The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) hosted an all-comers webinar on Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports for individuals and families experiencing homelessness on Friday, May 31st from 1:30–3:00pm PT. 

​In this webinar, DHCS leaders were joined by panelists from providers and managed care plans delivering ECM and key housing-related Community Supports. They provided:  

• ​Overviews of how ECM and Community Supports aim to address Members' clinical and non-clinical needs; 
• Perspectives from providers on connecting Members to key Community Supports like Housing Deposits and Housing Transition Navigation Services and braiding ECM and Community Supports services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness;
• ​Guidance to community partners and providers on referring individuals and families to ECM and Community Supports and engaging Members experiencing homelessness in ECM and Community Supports.