Last week, California’s Legislature concluded its 2024 session, with hundreds of bills now headed to Gov. Newsom for his signature or veto.
By and large, the outcomes of bills that will most significantly affect hospitals’ ability to deliver care were positive. To call attention to some of the priorities for hospitals this year that now await disposition by the governor:
- Legislation that secures up to five years of additional time — pending individual hospital approval from the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) — for hospitals to comply with the 2030 seismic construction mandate. (Senate Bill (SB) 1432 (Caballero, D-Merced)); in addition, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 869 (Wood, D-Healdsburg), which supports small hospitals by prioritizing eligibility for relief funding and delaying the 2030 seismic deadline for eligible hospitals, including district hospitals, up to three years (this bill also allows for an additional two-year delay depending on financial need or construction delays).
- Legislation that advances the conversation to ensure small, rural, and critical access hospitals remain viable. A hospital technical advisory group within the Department of Health Care Services will issue a report to the Legislature with recommendations (SB 1423 (Dahle, R-Bieber)).
- A package of bills that shines more light on harmful insurance company practices and creates greater accountability by reducing use of AI in authorization and coverage decisions, requiring additional financial reporting, and more (SB 1320 (Wahab, D-Fremont), SB 1120 (Becker, D-Menlo Park), AB 3221 (Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz), AB 1842 (Reyes, D-San Bernardino)).
Many, many thanks to every hospital leader who played a part in carrying the hospital message to policymakers this year. Your efforts showed not only through very strong vote counts on contentious bills, but also in the breadth of issues that we touched. Your voice mattered — and will continue to matter as we turn attention toward advocacy work in 2025.
Now, CHA’s focus is on securing the governor’s signature or veto on a raft of bills whose ultimate fate could alter your organization’s plans for health care delivery. We will keep you posted of activity from the governor’s office, as well as information on how to implement new policies that are signed into law this year.
