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.
Infographic: OHCA Cuts Don’t Make Health Care Affordable — They Just Hurt Patients
OHCA Board Ignores Hospitals’ Concerns, Approves Stricter Spending Targets for Seven ‘High-Cost’ Hospitals
What’s happening: At its April 22 meeting, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board voted 5-0 to move forward with reduced targets for a handful of hospitals. All other hospitals remain subject to the 3.5% target for 2025, which ramps down to 3% by 2029.
OHCA Cuts Will Create Real Pain for Real People
On Tuesday, the state’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) Board voted 5-0 to drastically cut how much seven California hospitals can spend to care for patients; this comes on top of below-inflation spending cuts for all hospitals that OHCA had already put in place.
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.”
Engage Now: OHCA Could Decide Hospital Sector Targets on April 22
What’s happening: At its April 22 board meeting, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board will review stakeholder feedback on staff’s recommended hospital sector spending targets and could adopt the proposal in its current, or a modified, form. CHA urges hospital representatives to submit letters in opposition by April 18 and attend the meeting, either in person or virtually, to provide public comment asking the board reject the proposed hospital sector target recommendations.
What else to know: The board has until June 1 to adopt any new targets for the 2026 calendar year — including for a hospital sector. If no action is taken this month, a decision could come at OHCA’s May 27 board meeting.
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.”
OHCA Board Reviews Initial Feedback on Hospital Sector Target Proposal, But Persistent Hospital Engagement Is Needed
What’s happening: At the Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) March 25 board meeting, the board discussed the hospital sector proposal and reviewed initial feedback from interviews with hospitals. While no final decisions or changes were made, the board signaled openness to reintroducing a limited exclusion for small hospitals.
What else to know: In written and verbal comments, CHA and hospital members pushed back against OHCA’s high-cost hospital proposal, finding it premature, based on anomalous data and biased methodologies — and certain to significantly harm access to high-quality hospital care in communities throughout California.
OHCA Poised to Set Troubling Precedent, Throttle Health Care Access
Time is running short.
CHA Argues OHCA’s Proposed Hospital Sector ‘Strains Credibility,’ Encourages Hospitals to Weigh In
What’s happening: On March 6, CHA sent a letter to the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) calling attention to the office’s flawed, prejudicial approach to creating a hospital sector.
What else to know: Over the coming weeks, hospitals must engage at every opportunity to ensure the OHCA board understands the devastating impact its actions will have on patient care. See CHA’s March 13 alert for details.
OHCA Faces Tough Questions from Lawmakers, Hospitals
What’s happening: In a March 3 hearing, members of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health pressed Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) leadership to answer questions on the impact its statewide and hospital-sector targets will have on patient care.
What else to know: During the hearing’s public comment portion, nearly 20 hospitals and health care organizations voiced their concerns with OHCA’s failure to account for the cost drivers and expenses that hospitals face and shared how these targets will negatively affect patient care.