• Former Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso started a new position as chief customer experience officer at CenCal Health, the Medi-Cal managed care plan for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, according to an Aug. 9 statement. In this position, she will provide strategic leadership for the management of relationships with members, providers, and community partners to ensure the long-term growth and success of the partnerships. Do-Reynoso will also serve as the health equity officer and be responsible for understanding and championing diverse needs and perspectives across the health care plan’s service area; sponsoring improvements in access to care; member engagement and satisfaction; provider and community partner retention and satisfaction; and the quality of customer service with an equity lens. “I am thrilled to join CenCal Health and look forward to collaborating with our partners to advance health equity in every neighborhood so that our communities are the healthiest in California,” Do-Reynoso said. Prior to this role, Do-Reynoso provided oversight of health care centers and county health programs and lead public health operations during multiple crises—the Thomas Fire, the Montecito debris flows, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Leaders from AARP California and California Environmental Voters joined U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla for a virtual press conference discussing how the Inflation Reduction Act will combat the climate crisis and protect Californians’ access to affordable health care, according to an Aug. 12 statement. “With the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats in Congress are taking on special interests to deliver for working families. This bold and transformative bill will fight inflation, lower health care costs, and make the largest investment in history to combat the climate crisis,” Padilla said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing the president sign the Inflation Reduction Act into law to help secure a brighter future for millions of Californians.” By investing approximately $369 billion over the next 10 years in energy security, environmental justice, and climate change programs, the Inflation Reduction Act aims to lower carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. These measures should also create good-paying, green jobs, and keep down energy costs for consumers, according to the statement. In addition, this legislation aims to reduce prescription drug costs and health care premiums, ensuring millions of California families maintain accessible and affordable health care. That means, 1.8 million Californians will be eligible to get and retain health insurance coverage and 6.5 million Medicare beneficiaries will have their out-of-pocket costs capped at $2,000 per year with the option to break that amount into affordable monthly payments.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced California’s latest actions to increase water supply and to adapt to more extreme weather patterns caused by climate change, according to an Aug. 11 statement from the governor’s office. Without action, state officials believe extreme weather could diminish California’s water supply by up to 10 percent by 2040. Newsom’s announcement follows $8 billion in state investments over the last two years to help store, recycle, de-salt, and conserve the water it will need to keep up with the increasing pace of climate change, generating enough water in the future for more than 8.4 million households by 2040. The actions—outlined in a strategy called “California’s water supply strategy, adapting to a hotter, drier future”—calls for investing in new sources of water supply, accelerating projects, and modernizing how the state manages water through new technology. “The best science tells us that we need to act now to adapt to California’s water future. Climate change means drought won’t just stick around for two years at a time like it historically has—extreme weather is the new normal here in the American West and California will adapt to this new reality,” Newsom said in a statement.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2022.