What’s happening: As a reminder, all hospitals must submit an ambulance patient offload time (APOT) reduction protocol — required under Assembly Bill (AB) 40 (2023) — to the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) annually on or before June 30. CHA recommends hospitals submit their protocols as soon as possible.
What’s happening: Due to federal policy shifts, many of California’s Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designations are currently “Proposed for Withdrawal” on July 1. An updated and more comprehensive list from the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) is available to help hospitals located in a HPSA assess their status.
What’s happening: U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui led a bipartisan letter requesting that the fiscal year 2027 appropriation bill include language barring the use of funds for implementation of any 340B Rebate Model, including the previously proposed Pilot Program.
What’s happening: On March 27, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) uploaded three new hospital data sets that hospitals must download before the files are deleted on May 11.
What’s happening: The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will issue disproportionate share hospital (DSH) April payments for the period of February-March 2026.
What’s happening: Last week, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) submitted its Hospital Fee Program tax model for calendar year 2026 (Program 10) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Earlier this week, CHA sent a pointed letter to the president of Anthem Blue Cross of California, calling out the insurance behemoth’s new multistate payment policy — an unjust and harmful practice that will penalize California hospitals for providing care to patients involving non-participating physicians or providers.
I had the privilege earlier this week to welcome and join one of the most important gatherings of rural health care leaders in California: CHA’s annual Rural Health Care Symposium.
What’s happening: A recording of CHA’s March 18 executive briefing on the Hospital Fee Program is now available for members who may have missed it.
What’s happening: The Department of Healthcare Access and Information (HCAI) has released two documents — FAQs and briefing slides — on the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP).