What’s happening: Hospitals must register as soon as possible for the Department of Health Care Access and Information’s (HCAI) online policy submission portal, which opened on Jan. 1.
What else to know: Hospitals must also submit their policies and applications that comply with the new regulations to HCAI, effective Jan. 1. HCAI is authorized to levy penalties of $500 per day for late submissions.
HCAI issued Program Information Letter 23-01, which informs hospitals that the responsibility for enforcing California’s Hospital Fair Pricing Policies law has been transferred from the California Department of Public Health to HCAI, effective since Jan. 1. Hospitals must register their primary and secondary contact persons, who will be notified if HCAI receives a patient complaint about the hospital’s charity care, discount payment, or debt collection practices.
For instructions on how to register and navigate the patient complaint portal, refer to the Hospital Complaint Portal User Guide and HDC User Guide.
For more information, contact Trina Gonzalez, vice president, policy, at tgonzalez@calhospital.org or Lois Richardson, vice president, legal counsel, at lrichardson@calhospital.org.
