A Save Our Shores volunteer picks up trash at Cowell's Beach. The Board will consider a resolution to address tobacco waste, the most common type of trash picked up by the organization, at tomorrow's meeting (photo Courtesy of Save Our Shores).
The Board of Supervisors will hear a report from the multiple departments working to implement the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative. CalAIM is a comprehensive, state-required initiative to improve healthcare services for people on Medi-Cal. You qualify for Medi-Cal if you are low-income or under 21, over 65, pregnant, blind, or have other specific health conditions. All California counties are participating in CalAIM, and the initiative will be particularly impactful in Santa Cruz, where 33% of the population is on Medi-Cal (89,676 out of 272,138 in Fiscal Year 2021-22).
CalAIM has three goals. The first is expanding what can be considered health care. For example, it provides new funding for non-clinical services such as housing vouchers, meals, homemaker services, and community-based care coordination.
The second goal of CalAIM is reducing barriers to enrollment and access. This includes programs like a pre-release Medi-Cal application process in County jails and youth correctional facilities that ensures all incarcerated individuals who are eligible receive timely access to ongoing physical or behavioral health treatment services upon release from incarceration. It also includes a “No Wrong Door” policy to ensure people seeking behavioral health treatment receive care regardless of where they look for it.
The third and final goal of CalAIM is to create a “one person, one record” model so that the different health services a patient accesses share data with one another. Today some Medi-Cal beneficiaries may access six or more separate services (such as mental health, substance use disorder, dental, developmental, In-Home Supportive Services, etc.) and have a separate patient record with each one.
Implementation of CalAIM will take several years and involves changes in technology, payment models, and practices. This report will allow the Board to assess progress and provide direction.
Cigarette butts are the most commonly polluted plastic. This has been demonstrated locally by organizations like Save Our Shores that conduct beach cleanups. It is also true globally, with an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts littered into the environment every year. These butts leach toxic chemicals like arsenic, and the filters provide no known health benefits to smokers. Multiple efforts to ban cigarette butts at the state level have failed. This returns the obligation to address this pollution to city and county governments.
The County of Santa Cruz has been a leader in fighting waste from plastic bags, single-use shampoo bottles in hotels, and single-use cups. The Cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville have already passed resolutions recognizing tobacco waste as a public health and environmental threat. The proposed resolution will align the County and provide assistance in developing policy that reduces cigarette butts and other tobacco litter.
To view and comment on the full Board of Supervisors Agenda click below:
http://santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1980
