CenCal Health
Our Mission
To improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve by providing access to high quality health services, along with education and outreach, for our membership.
Who we are and what we do
CenCal Health (formerly The Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority) administers several publicly-funded health care programs for low income residents of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties; the primary one being the Medi-Cal program. (California’s version of Medicaid) CenCal Health is a public entity that is governed by a 13 member Board of Directors appointed by the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo county boards of supervisors. Our Board of Directors is composed of local government representatives, physicians, hospital representatives, member representatives, other health care provider representatives, and business representatives. Although a public entity, it must operate like a business, managing funds as efficiently as possible in carrying out its mission.
Since beginning operations in 1983, CenCal Health has, among other things, created access to high quality health care for its members through contracts with local providers (physicians, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.); and coordinates care for its members through a primary care provider case management system, aided by numerous plan programs and activities. This case management system has resulted in not only a high quality of care delivered to its membership, but also significant monetary savings by working with health care providers to deliver health care in a coordinated way and as efficiently as possible. The program that began here is now acknowledged to be the oldest Medicaid managed care program of its kind in the country. Medi-Cal has since become a demonstration program for other counties and states, and has served as a model for Medicaid reform.
Programs we offer
Medi-Cal is CenCal Health’s largest program, currently serving approximately 100,000 residents in our service area of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Other programs we administer include the Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs (serving low income children); the Access for Infants and Mothers Program (AIM)(serving low income expectant mothers and their newborn children); and, the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) health care program (providing health care coverage to those that work to assist people in their homes).
Eligibility for all programs is determined by income status. Medi-Cal members are automatically inscribed into our program from the State of CA, while Healthy Families, Healthy Kids, as well as AIM and IHSS members must apply and qualify based on specific income levels.
Once members are in our system, they are able to choose (or have assigned) a Primary Care Physician (PCP), which will serve as their “medical home”. We have a dedicated bi-cultural and bi-lingual Member Services Department that is able to assist with member questions, appointment scheduling, arranging non-emergency transportation if required, and a host of other issues. We truly care about the well-being of our members, many of them medically fragile, and we live and work in the community that we serve.
On the other side of the coin is our valued and compassionate physician network that individually contract with CenCal Health to see our members. They are supported by our dedicated Provider Services as well as our Claims Department that visit the physician offices, assist with submission of claims, hold workshops to train doctor’s office staff, produce a monthly Provider bulletin, as well as many other duties.