About Affordability
Health care is a basic human need, one that Californians rely on to live, grow, and prosper. Unfortunately, the cost of care has become too high for many working families. For years, California’s hospitals have made headway toward controlling costs. To ensure care for every Californian, the entire health care field must tighten its belt — insurance companies, physicians, labor unions, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and more.
Improving affordability is a priority for California hospitals — but with nearly two-thirds of health care spending occurring outside of hospitals, solving this challenge will take a combined effort from the entire health care system. To move toward our shared goals of affordable, equitable, and high-quality health care, hospitals work closely with the Office of Health Care Affordability.
OHCA Still Seeking Presentations from Hospitals on Cost-Reducing Strategies
What’s happening: Ahead of its next board meeting on March 25, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) continues to seek presentations from health care providers on strategies that have successfully reduced health care spending while promoting good health outcomes. To date, the board has heard from seven health care entities about their cost-reducing strategies.
As CHA Continues Push for Collaboration, OHCA Indicates Openness to Corrected Hospital Financial Data
What’s happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA) board met on Jan. 28 to discuss several issues, including enforcement of the spending targets and whether to consider resubmissions of hospital data for the purposes of defining “high-cost” hospitals and assessing compliance with the spending targets.
OHCA Advisory Committee Solicits Applications for New Committee Members, Discusses Spending Target Enforcement at Latest Meeting
What’s happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) is seeking applications to serve on its advisory committee, which provides input to the office on topics ranging from the spending target methodology and sectors to workforce and quality standards. CHA encourages members to apply by the March 31 deadline, as input from health care experts is critical to ensuring OHCA’s policies support patient care.
CHA Pushes Back on State’s Effort to Prematurely End OHCA Legal Challenge
What’s happening: On Jan. 15, CHA submitted its latest legal filing in the case against the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA). In December, OHCA’s attorneys asked the court to dismiss CHA’s lawsuit, alleging CHA and its members lack standing and did not sufficiently plead their case in the original challenge. CHA’s filing objects to OHCA’s request and demonstrates that the OHCA decisions on spending targets and related matters are ripe for judicial...
Issue Brief: Bureaucrat-Run Health Care Isn’t the Solution for California’s High Costs
OHCA must engage every sector of health care in making data-driven decisions that improve care access, quality, and equity.
Key Messages: Bureaucrat-Run Health Care Isn’t the Solution for California’s High Costs
The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) — the state’s response to affordability challenges — is on a path that will debilitate California’s health care system.
Infographic: 39,000 Jobs, $40 Billion on the Line as Bureaucrats Endanger CA Health Care
OHCA Board Continues Aggressive Enforcement Planning, Signals Spending Targets Won’t be Changed
What’s happening: The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) board met on December 17 to discuss several issues, including enforcement of and updated data related to the spending targets, as well as the office’s recent work to develop a methodology for measuring hospital spending.
Ahead of Final 2025 OHCA Board Meeting, CHA Highlights Office’s Key Missteps
What’s happening: This week, CHA submitted a letter to Health Care Affordability Board Chair Kim Johnson, calling out extensive shortcomings in the office’s recent report on Monterey County hospital prices and asking the office to look at all the factors influencing health care affordability – including commercial insurance companies’ role in driving up costs.
CHA to Host 2025 Legislative Wrap-Up Webinar on Dec. 3
What’s happening: On Dec. 3 from 2:30- 4 p.m. (PT), a panel of CHA experts will cover key legislation from the 2025 session, highlight crucial deadlines, and answer members’ questions.