What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed Medicare administrative contractors to continue to hold certain claims dated Oct. 1 or later for services impacted by the federal government shutdown.
(more…)MACs to Continue Temporary Hold for Claims Dated Oct. 1 Or Later
Courts Must Intervene to Protect Californians’ Health Care
Yesterday, CHA took a critical step to push back on actions taken by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) that are threatening access to care, putting health care workers’ jobs in jeopardy, impeding efforts to improve health equity, and risking the quality of care Californians receive.
(more…)DHCS to Reduce Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will issue reduced disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments in October, covering the July-September 2025 payment period.
(more…)CHA Publishes Lobbying Percentage of Dues for Medicare Cost Reports
What’s happening: Hospitals are required to adjust their Medicare cost reports to eliminate the portion of association membership dues related to certain unallowable lobbying expenses, as defined by Medicare. Each year, CHA calculates the unallowable-cost portion of association dues, which differ by geographic region and by tax status.
(more…)Hospitals Must Register with AG to File Perinatal Bias Training Compliance Documents
What’s happening: In December, the attorney general’s (AG’s) office will distribute a survey assessing hospitals’ compliance with implicit bias training for perinatal care providers.
(more…)Register Now for Webinar on Seismic Compliance Plans
What’s happening: A CHA webinar on Oct. 27 from 10-11:30 a.m. (PT) will give hospitals key tools for developing seismic compliance plans, which are due to the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) by Jan. 1, 2026.
(more…)2025 Hospital Finance & Reimbursement Conference
What’s happening: On Nov. 3-4, California hospital finance experts will gather at CHA’s members-only Hospital Finance & Reimbursement Conference to examine the fiscal impact of state and federal regulations and policies on hospitals.
(more…)OHCA Violated State Law, Ignored Mandate to Consider Impact of Decisions on Health Care Access, Workers, and More: Hospital Association Lawsuit
SACRAMENTO (Oct. 15, 2025) — California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) has violated state law by setting caps on the resources hospitals have available to care for patients, as it ignored a clear legislative mandate to safeguard access to care, protect health care workers, improve health equity, and preserve or enhance the quality of care.
(more…)Government Bureaucrats Are Putting Access to Health Care at Risk
Hospitals are highly encouraged to refer media questions about the lawsuit against the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to Jan Emerson-Shea, CHA’s vice president, external affairs.
If you have an opportunity or desire to speak about the threat OHCA poses to access to care in your community, messages for your use or modification are provided below; more resources are available in this toolkit.
With questions about CHA’s work on OHCA, contact Ben Johnson, group vice president, federal policy.
NOTE: It may be helpful to begin any in-depth discussion about the threats OHCA poses to access with acknowledgement that affordability in all areas — food, housing, energy, etc. — is a challenge for Californians.
MESSAGES
- There are very clear reasons why health care in NAME OF COMMUNITY is costly — pharmaceutical companies continue to raise prices on medicine people need; profit-minded insurance companies delay or deny needed treatment; wages and salaries to recruit and retain a highly skilled workforce continue to rise.
- In fact, nearly 2/3 of health care spending occurs outside of hospitals — prescription drugs, health insurance premiums, clinics, doctors’ offices, and more.
- With all of these challenges, in spite of recent and unprecedented federal cuts to Medi-Cal, a new governmental body is making it even harder to make sure NAME OF COMMUNITY gets the care it needs.
- The Office of Health Care Affordability — made up of politician-appointed bureaucrats — has set a limit on the resources hospitals have available to deliver care to patients.
- This limit is well under the rate of inflationary pressures we face and does not take into account: our aging population, the massive federal health care cuts coming out of Washington, D.C., rising labor expenses, pharmaceutical costs, the growing need for care and use of services by Californians, and more.
- This could force cuts that mean that the people living in NAME OF COMMUNITY will be forced to travel farther for care, face longer emergency room wait times, experience more overcrowding, and lose access to critical services like maternity care, cancer care/treatment, mental health, and surgery services.
- For NAME OF HOSPITAL to come in under this arbitrary limit set by state government, we may be forced to make difficult decisions. For example:
- More than XX% of [HOSPITAL NAME] spending goes to the doctors, nurses, clinicians, and others who care for our patients. To meet OHCA’s cap, we may be forced to cut jobs.
- With the dual threat of resource caps and recent federal cuts, we may no longer be able to offer services like X, Y, and Z.
- Of particular concern is that while government bureaucrats are limiting resources for patient care, the amount people are paying for their health insurance continues to soar as OHCA does not put a limit on what insurers can charge each month for people’s premiums.