As a public institution, we provide exceptional care to all Californians. And, we actively seek ways to expand our reach to those who need it most by improving access to health care.
UC’s health locations and providers are proud to serve as an essential part of California’s health care safety net system, providing high quality care to those in need regardless of whether individuals are insured or the type of health insurance they have.
Each year, University of California Health (UCH) hospitals have thousands of inpatient admissions and millions of outpatient visits. By our fiscal year 2021-2022, across UC academic health centers, 35.2 percent of inpatient days (days where patients were in the hospital) were for Medi-Cal enrollees. Additionally, 35.7 percent of inpatient days were for people with Medicare coverage in fiscal year 2021-2022 across our system.
Did You Know?
Together, UC’s academic health centers are the second-largest provider of Medi-Cal hospital services by most measures, despite operating less than 6 percent of the non-federal, short-term, acute care hospital beds in California
Reimbursement Differs Across Payors
University of California Health academic health centers are almost entirely self-supporting, relying on reimbursements from governmental and commercial payors. The majority of revenue comes from patients with contracted health insurance.
In our fiscal year 2021-2022, approximately 22 percent ($3.6 billion) of UC hospital revenue came from care provided to Medi-Cal enrollees, who represented 35.2 percent of inpatient days. Costs associated with Medi-Cal patients are not fully covered. It is estimated that Medi-Cal reimbursement covers between 50 to 60 percent of the cost of services per patient.
In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, UC also provided $1 billion in care for people enrolled in Medi-Cal for which it was not reimbursed, a 47 percent increase since 2015.
Providing Accessible Health Education and Training Across California
All UCH health professional education emphasizes public service and caring for communities that have traditionally faced barriers to care or inadequate public health resources. But that’s not enough. We have opened new UC schools and programs in areas where additional health care is needed. And, our UC PRIME model of training equips the next generation of physicians for leadership and advocacy for groups who do not regularly have access to quality care.
Explore how UCH is improving diversity, equity and inclusion across the health sciences.
World-Class Care Regardless of Ability to Pay
The University of California’s academic health centers provided $4.1 billion in community benefits in FY 2020-2021. Those benefits included care delivered at UC hospitals for which the system was not reimbursed — in the amount of $1 billion for people enrolled in Medi-Cal and an additional $1.7 billion for Medicare patients.
Learn more about the community benefit UCH provides to Californians.