The California Medical Assistance Commission was established by Chapter 329 of the Statutes of 1982. The Commission's purpose is to contract with health care service providers to deliver health care services to Medi-Cal recipients. The records of the California Medical Assistance Commission contain 8 cubic feet of textual records, spanning the years 1988 through 1993.

The major functions of the Commission are to direct and review proposed contracts for Medi-Cal services negotiated by the Executive Director of the Commission. These contracts may be negotiated with hospitals, county health systems and health care plans (e.g., insurance companies, prepaid health plans, independent practice associations and university medical centers). The Commission itself does not negotiate contracts; its Executive Director does, and the members of the Commission then have twenty days to either reject or propose amendments to any contracts. It is estimated that, through the contract negotiation process, the Commission saves the State General Fund $850 million annually, and has saved the state $11 billion since its establishment.

8 cubic feet

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

This record group is restricted in accordance with Government Code, section 7926.215 (formerly Gov. Code section 6254.14(a)) of the California Public Records Act, which prohibits the California Medical Assistance Commission from publicly releasing documents which detail "health care services contract negotiations, and that reveal the deliberative processes, discussions, communications, or any other portion of the negotiations, including, but not limited to, records related to those negotiations such as meeting minutes, research, work product, theories, or strategy of the department, or its staff."