Changes to Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program funding opportunities
The Alliance’s Medi-Cal Capacity Grant Program (MCGP) launched in 2015 to address access and capacity challenges resulting from rapid expansion of the Medi-Cal population following the Affordable Care Act. By investing part of the Alliance’s reserves, the MCGP provides grants to local organizations to increase the availability, quality and access of health care and supportive services for Medi-Cal members in Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. To date, the Alliance has awarded $128.2M to 128 organizations to support the Alliance’s vision of Healthy People, Healthy Communities.
The Alliance is announcing the redesign of two current funding opportunities, effective April 2022.
Provider Recruitment Program
The Provider Recruitment Program provides funding to support health care organizations in their efforts to recruit and hire new health care professionals to serve the Medi-Cal population in Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
This program has been updated to include:
- A focus on recruitment of priority, high-need specialty providers and behavioral health providers.
- A Linguistic Competence Incentive to increase access to person-centered, linguistically and culturally competent care for non-English speaking Medi-Cal members.
Partners for Health Food Access Program
The Partners for Healthy Food Access Program aims to improve member health and nutritious food security in the Medi-Cal population in Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties through multi-sector partnerships implementing community-based nutritious and medically supportive food projects.
This program has been updated to include:
- A narrowed focus on projects that closely align with a “food prescription” model that has a significant food distribution component for medically supportive food coupled with an education and/or skill-building intervention.
- An emphasis on targeting Medi-Cal members who have or are at risk for having chronic diseases, not based on food insecurity alone.
- Eligibility for organizations who have received a Partners for Healthy Food Access grant in the past. The one-time funding policy has been removed. Grant funding may be awarded for new projects or continuation/expansion of successful previously funded projects that use a food prescription model.
Applications are being accepted for both the Provider Recruitment Program and the Partners for Healthy Food Access Program from organizations in Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. The next application deadline is July 19, 2022.
For more information about the MCGP and current funding opportunities, visit the Alliance website.
MCGP: looking ahead
Later this year, the Alliance will be refreshing its MCGP focus areas and developing new funding opportunities designed to:
- Address current and emerging Medi-Cal needs.
- Align with opportunities identified in the Alliance’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.
Please check our website for the most current information.
