What’s happening: Tuesday marked California’s primary election, setting the stage for critical runoffs in November — perhaps the most important of which will be the showdown between Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R) to be California’s next governor.
The Wall Street Journal’s recent piece examining job growth nationally and in California (“Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs.” – May 11, 2026) noted that, “without [the health and human services sector], the state hosting the nation’s high-tech and entertainment hubs would have lost jobs … This gap between health-related and other parts of the economy proved greater in California than in any other U.S. state.”
What’s happening: On Wednesday, CHA issued an alert asking members to press the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to set a reasonable enforcement structure that gives hospitals a chance to improve before imposing penalties so severe that hospitals would have no choice but to cut services, reduce staff, or close outright.
What’s happening: At the May 28 “Protect Access to Health Care Act” Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) put forth a revised spending plan that fails to align funding with the intent of the voter-approved Proposition 35.
What’s happening: CHA has submitted comments to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) in response to the April 24 second draft of regulatory language regarding Assembly Bill 1007 (2023-2024: Occupational safety and health standards: plume).
What's happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA) board met on Wednesday and continued deliberations over the monetary penalties for violating the spending targets. The office also introduced draft regulations to implement Assembly Bill (AB) 1415 (Statutes of 2025), which expands OHCA’s authority to review certain types of health care market transactions.
It’s been a little more than four months since commercial insurance company executives were summoned to Capitol Hill for a congressional hearing in which they were probed on care denials, profit-taking, consumer affordability, and more.
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has launched a 30-day public comment period — closing June 20 — on the planned submission of a five-year renewal application for the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Section 1915(b) Waiver, which is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2026.
What’s happening: CHA DataSuite issued a hospital-specific analysis of the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2027 Medicare long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule. The analysis is intended to show providers how Medicare fee-for-service payments may change from FFY 2026 to FFY 2027 based on the policies set forth in the proposed rule.
What’s happening: CHA DataSuite has issued a hospital-specific analysis of the final data for wage index and occupational mix. The analysis is intended to provide hospitals with a comparative review of the wage data that will be used to develop the upcoming federal fiscal year (FFY) 2027 Medicare hospital wage index.