What’s happening: At its May 22 meeting, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board discussed OHCA’s proposals to refocus the state’s health care system on prevention and encourage the use of payment arrangements aligned with that goal.
What else to know: CHA submitted a letter to the OHCA board responding to the finalized spending growth target and urging the board to reevaluate the target annually.
The board discussed two OHCA proposals to improve the value of care. The first, the Primary Care Investment Benchmark, is a goal to increase the share of total health care spending that is dedicated to primary care by between 0.5% and 1% every year until reaching 15% by 2034. The second, the Proposed Alternative Payment Model (APM) Standards and Adoption Goals, aims to encourage health plans and insurers to increase their use of APMs in their contracting arrangements with providers. While an important component of the office’s efforts, OHCA does not have authority to enforce these new standards on health care payers and providers at large.
In addition, OHCA has an advisory committee that provides regular input on key decisions before the office. It is made up of representatives of providers, payers, labor, and consumer advocates. Terms for half of the advisory committee members expire this summer. At the May meeting, the OHCA board filled nearly all the open seats, opting to reappoint members whose terms were expiring wherever possible.
Finally, while proposed changes to the cost and market impact review regulations were originally slated to be discussed at the board meeting, this proposal was ultimately withdrawn by the office. A revised proposed set of changes can be expected later.
If you have any questions, contact Ben Johnson, vice president, policy, at bjohnson@calhospital.org.
