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.
Toolkit: Tell Lawmakers – Stop Health Care Cuts That Harm Patients
OHCA must engage every sector of health care in making data-driven decisions that improve care access, quality, and equity.
New Resources Allow Hospitals to See Where They Fall Under OHCA’s ‘High Cost’ Methodology
What’s happening: CHA has created a data tool to help members replicate calculations used by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to identify so-called “high-cost” hospitals and assess how close they may be to the threshold.
Infographic: OHCA Cuts Don’t Make Health Care Affordable — They Just Hurt Patients
California Hospitals Denounce State Cuts to Health Care
SACRAMENTO (April 22, 2025) — “Today’s decision by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to impose deep cuts on seven hospitals will create alarming consequences for patient care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “These cuts are coming on top of below-inflation spending caps for all hospitals that OHCA has already put in place. Make no mistake — the hospital care Californians receive is now being decided by a handful of unelected people who are cutting billions of dollars from your health care.”
Hospitals Call Out Office of Health Care Affordability’s Flaws in Setting Limits on Health Care Spending
SACRAMENTO (March 26, 2025) — “The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) efforts to impose below-cost spending caps on hospitals —and call out 11 specific hospitals for even deeper cuts— is premature and without solid basis,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “The decisions made by the OHCA Board will cap how much can be spent on health care for Californians — that means real pain for real people.”
Advocating for Your Hospital While Congress Considers Medicare & Medicaid Cuts
Congress and the administration are considering significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals and limiting access to coverage. Join CHA’s federal lobbyist to learn how you can help educate your member of congress about how these plans could impact your community, your patients and your hospital.
Executive Update: Office of Health Care Affordability Focuses Its Attention on Hospitals
The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) is moving at a rapid pace, implementing ambitious spending targets and other rules. OHCA has recently turned its attention toward the hospital field, with a goal of adding further restrictions on spending growth for at least some hospitals.
Hospital Finance Week: Spotlight: California’s New Office of Health Care Affordability
This session will review the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) authorizing statute and the specific requirements of the Office, including: Increasing transparency on cost and quality Developing cost targets for the health care field Enforcing compliance through financial penalties Monitoring market transactions that may adversely affect market competition, prices, quality, access, and the total...