CEO Message

Executive Order on Antitrust Doesn’t Recognize Importance of Systems

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Last week, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at driving enhanced antitrust enforcement across multiple sectors of the U.S. economy, including several areas of focus within health care. Specifically, according to the fact sheet, the order encourages the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to enforce antitrust laws vigorously and “recognizes that the law allows them to challenge prior bad mergers that past administrations did not previously challenge.” 

Vigilance Needed as Delta Variant Continues to Spread

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Earlier this week, the California Department of Public Health released data that showed that in June, of the COVID specimens sequenced, 36% of COVID tests were the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19. That’s up from less than 6% of analyzed specimens in May.  

Integration, Employer Costs Will Be Focus of Coming Fight in DC

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The heavy press is on in Washington, DC, as employer interest groups lobby legislators to take action on a pair of issues critical to hospitals: health care costs, which many see as driven higher by increased system integration, and the growing expenses for employers to provide health insurance as a result of those higher costs. 

An Important Win on Mandatory Bonus Pay

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Today, a troubling legislative proposal that CHA has been fighting hard since it was introduced earlier this year — a bill that would mandate some $6 billion in COVID-19 bonus pay for health care workers — was officially tabled until 2022 at the earliest.  

Loud and Clear

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Today, as we near the end of the annual National Hospital Week celebration, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins introduced a resolution marking the life-saving contributions of California’s hospitals in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Hope Through Hospitals

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Every year in May, the country celebrates National Hospital Week — a time to reflect on and appreciate the so many ways hospitals support the needs of their communities, health and otherwise. 

This year’s theme is Hope Through Healing, which is something hospitals take pride in providing every year, but it takes on extra meaning considering what’s taken place since 2020’s celebration 12 months ago. 

CEO Message: Change Needed on Flawed Office of Health Care Affordability Proposal

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On Tuesday, as expected, the bill to create California’s Office of Health Care Affordability unanimously passed out of the Assembly Health Committee, with a couple legislators choosing not to vote.

The bill, which has the power to fundamentally change how health care in California is delivered, saw minimal debate — just a few brief questions from committee members — before it advanced to the next stage of the legislative process.

The Long Fight for Financial Relief

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Late last month, the respected health care financial analyst Kaufman Hall released its latest examination of the condition of hospitals as the nation continues to toil through the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the conclusions is something hospital leaders know all too well. From the report:

“As many push for a rapid return to ‘normal,’ hospital and health system leaders face a hard reality that there may never be a return to the old normal. The pandemic likely will have long-lasting repercussions on patient behavior, volumes, and the role of telehealth in an evolving healthcare landscape.”

Specifically, the report calls attention to several factors likely to influence hospitals’ ability to provide care in the same manner as prior to the pandemic, including:

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