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.
Of those bills, hundreds were related to health care, business operations, and more that will affect hospitals. CHA was intensely focused on roughly a dozen, where the legislation could have a profound impact on hospital care in California. On Tuesday, we shared a “scorecard,” capturing the outcomes of those bills.
You can see the full scorecard here, but overall, hospitals were broadly successful this session, with notable wins:
- Helping secure $385 million through the state budget, including $135 million in grants to help financially distressed hospitals and $250 million to support public hospitals
- Stopping legislation that would have prohibited hospitals and health systems from charging facility fees for outpatient services provided at off-campus sites, as well as for telehealth services
- And more
Along with a disappointment: After it got hung up in the Senate Health Committee, CHA had to pull its sponsored bill that would have established an independent, nonpartisan entity to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of state and federal policies on hospitals.
The bills that came out of the Legislature now head to the desk of Gov. Newsom, who has the ability to either sign them into law or veto them. CHA is working now on sending the governor signature and veto requests and we will share an updated “scorecard” after the Sept. 30 signing deadline.
After the signing deadline, we will also share a full report on new laws affecting hospitals, with guidance on who within your organization should review these new laws.
With the 2026 session concluded, focus now turns toward development of the 2027 advocacy agenda, which we’ll develop with the CHA Board of Trustees.
