What’s happening: After the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board voted yesterday to approve astronomical financial penalties against hospitals it deems non-compliant with its caps on spending growth, CHA immediately issued a media statement reiterating hospitals’ strident opposition and highlighting new research showing the unintended consequences of similar efforts in other states.
What’s happening: This week, Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego) submitted to the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) a letter, cosigned by 25 other lawmakers, that asks pointed questions about OHCA’s work to date – in particular, how its efforts to control affordability will preserve access to care.
What’s happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board meets next week, with votes agendized on the scope, range, and justification factors for both spending target penalties and procedural penalties. Hospitals must push back on the unprecedented penalties OHCA has proposed; see CHA's alert for guidance and resources.
What’s happening: On Monday, CHA filed its latest legal brief with the San Francisco Superior Court establishing why the judge must reject the Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) request to dismiss the case.
What’s happening: Last week, CHA submitted a letter urging the Office of Health Care Affordability to modify its penalty structure proposal, calling attention to the exorbitant potential penalties that would undermine OHCA’s charge to maintain access and quality in its pursuit of affordability.
What’s happening: This week, CHA hosted more than 50 lawmakers and legislative staff for a briefing focused on the Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) work to date, hospitals’ advocacy efforts, and the impact OHCA’s policies will have on health care access statewide.
What's happening: Organizations representing nearly 150 hospitals wrote or commented at this week’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board meeting asking the board to reject OHCA’s proposed penalties, which could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars for even a single-year violation of the spending targets. Hospitals shared the disastrous consequences such exorbitant...
What's happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA) board meets next week to discuss the proposed spending target penalties, draft changes to the cost and market impact review (CMIR) regulations, and health care spending trends from 2023-2024. Hospitals’ help is needed to push back against the exorbitant penalties proposed by OHCA; see CHA’s alert for guidance...
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.
