Earlier this week, the California State Legislature concluded its 2026 legislative session — nine months of policy and political work where lawmakers determined the outcomes of more than 3,000 individual bills.
There is positive movement on new state regulations and standards to strengthen oversight of commercial insurance companies and compel them to provide the health care services people need. This comes after years of continuous CHA advocacy with the Department of Managed Health Care, calling attention to the practices of many profit-minded insurance companies that were neglecting the needs of Californians.
Headed into the final couple of weeks of this year’s state legislative session, CHA is focused on a key piece of legislation related to artificial intelligence (AI).
Our work continues to educate state policymakers about Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) policies that risk access to vital health care services.
During last week’s CHA Board meeting, members were joined by Ken Kaufman, founder of the nationally renowned health care financial consulting firm Kaufman Hall, for a candid and enlightening conversation about the future of hospital care.
In recent media coverage of insurance company premium hikes for plans sold through Covered California, national for-profit insurers are once again playing a tired and disingenuous blame game.
A pair of recent articles by nationally renowned health care policy experts — one in Health Affairs and one in The New York Times — underscores points that CHA has been making for years around the unintended consequences of artificially capping spending on health care services without adequately considering the impact on access to care, jobs, and patients’ experience.
Through the end of this month, hospitals have a brief window to elevate their voices on two critical issues that could be decided in a matter of weeks.
A couple of weeks ago, the American Hospital Association stepped forward into its next chapter with the appointment of Steve Walsh as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Walsh takes AHA’s reins following the announcement late last year that my friend and current President and CEO Rick Pollack would be retiring after nearly 50 years with the organization.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ― C.S. Lewis
