Recommendations for Medi-Cal managed care to prevent and address intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread, multigenerational threat to individual and community health that requires systemic intervention by public and private entities. As the insurer of onethird of California’s residents, Medi-Cal is well positioned to address and prevent IPV, particularly among people with low-income and those that are most vulnerable to the negative effects of IPV. Several recent and upcoming policy developments in California present opportunities to systemically address and prevent IPV, including Medi-Cal’s expanded access to behavioral health services, care delivery reforms put forth in the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) proposal—including population health management and enhanced care management programs—and the forthcoming re-procurement of Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs). This brief discusses the recent policy developments in California that Medi-Cal can leverage to address the needs of IPV survivors and recommends specific policies that would allow California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to connect IPV survivors and individuals at risk with the education and essential health care and social support services they need to heal and to prevent IPV in future generations.