Timeline Undetermined for Implementation of AB 40 Regulations
What’s happening: Due to state budget constraints, the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has not yet approved the Emergency Medical Services Authority’s (EMSA) Assembly Bill (AB) 40 (2023) regulations for public comment.
What else to know: AB 40 passed in 2023 with the intent of improving long ambulance patient offload times (APOTs). Despite the delay on implementation, CHA continues pursuing opportunities to collaborate with health care partners to improve long APOTs, which affect the entire health care delivery system.
(more…)
New Medicare Conditions of Participation Updates for Obstetrical and Other Services — Participant Information
In the calendar year 2025 outpatient prospective payment system final rule, CMS finalized significant changes to the Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs), including a new set of requirements for hospitals and critical access hospitals that provide obstetrical services. In addition, CMS updated existing CoPs on emergency services and discharge planning that are applicable to all hospitals, including those that do not offer obstetrical services. These requirements will be phased in over 2 years with the first of the requirements in effect July 1. Join Megan Howard who will break down everything you need to know to ensure your hospital is ready to meet respective deadlines.
This content is restricted to members.
Log in Register an Account
What the BCBS Antitrust Settlement & Its BlueCard® Program Transformation Means to You — Participant Information
Learn about the details of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Providers Class Action Settlement, which provides $2.8 billion in relief funds to participating providers as well as valuable injunctive relief designed to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability on the part of BCBS in its claims processing.
CHA is sharing information critical to your hospital’s decision to participate in or opt out of the settlement through a presentation by the lawyers who negotiated the agreement. Speakers will address settlement details and hotspots, with their perspective on the benefits of participating in the settlement and the risks of opting out of it.
The deadline for opting out is March 4, so make sure your hospital can make a timely and informed decision by attending this webinar.
This content is restricted to members.
Log in Register an Account
Issue Brief: Systemic Reimbursement Shortfalls Must Be Fixed
Headwinds for California Hospitals Mean More Uncertainty,
Access Challenges for Patients
The Issue
Access to critical hospital services is at risk.
Hospitals face a perfect storm of financial challenges that threaten access to high-quality, timely care.
- A systemic shortfall in reimbursement from Medi-Cal and Medicare. Medicare and Medi-Cal pay 75 cents for every dollar it costs to care for patients. Statewide, 72% of hospital volume comes from Medi-Cal and Medicare combined.
- An aging population will turn to Medicare in greater numbers (the over 65 population is expected to grow to one in five by 2030). This leaves fewer individuals with commercial insurance that can help offset Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement shortfalls.
- Health care costs are rising: Labor costs are up 8% over the past year (and projected to grow significantly); medical supplies are up 22%; and pharmaceuticals are up roughly $700 million over pre-pandemic levels.
If Medi-Cal and Medicare continue to underfund care, more hospitals in California will be forced to reduce services just to keep their doors open. Vital resources from a renewed tax on managed care organizations will help protect access to care, but represent only the first step to address systemic, multi-year shortfalls in government funding. In California, at least 46 hospitals have closed labor and delivery services since 2012, with 27 of those coming in the past three years. Nationwide, nearly 6 million women now live in maternity deserts. For mental health and substance use disorders, more than half of those in need who seek care do not receive any.
For Californians, this will mean more expensive and less accessible care for working families, more negative health outcomes, and longstanding inequities in health care access and outcomes will deepen.
What’s Needed
Government payers — Medicare and Medi-Cal — must correct decades-old and systemic reimbursement shortfalls that have put the health care system on the precipice. The state must also address regulatory cost pressures such as a more than $100 billion seismic mandate to upgrade hospital buildings and must monitor the risk of further hospital closures and service reductions.
2023 Report on State Legislation
CHA’s 2023 Report on State Legislation summarizes the health care bills signed into law that will have the greatest impact on hospitals. It’s a guide to help hospital leaders navigate new laws and implement requirements. High-impact laws are called out and others are categorized and indexed for easy reference.
2024 Report on State Legislation
The 2024 Report on State Legislation report provides a comprehensive overview of new laws taking effect, highlighting those with the most impact on hospitals. It is a resource to support understanding and implementation of these new laws.
Kicking Off 2025
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
As we start the new year, many new faces will be coming to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Here in California, some three dozen new legislators have been sworn in and will take state office for the first time. In our nation’s capital, President-elect Trump is preparing to bring a different approach to, and new priorities for, health care policy than that of the Biden administration.
(more…)
HQI to Host Five-Part Webinar Series on Building a Hospital Safety Culture
What’s happening: The Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) is offering a five-part webinar series to address strategies for increasing patient safety and improving response to patient harm.
What else to know: The series will provide a deep dive into the five domains of HQI’s flagship program, HQI Cares: BETA HEART®, and explore their alignment with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new Patient Safety Structural Measure.
(more…)
CMS Responds to Congressional Letter Urging Adequate IRF Access
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has responded to a congressional letter, signed by several members of the California delegation, that urged CMS to take steps that will ensure Medicare Advantage (MA) plan beneficiaries have access to medically necessary inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) care.
What else to know: In the letter, Ms. Brooks-LaSure notes several recent rules issued by CMS that seek to ensure that MA plans adhere to CMS requirements, including network adequacy, prior authorization, and data collection. Ms. Brooks-LaSure also agrees to take the writers’ comments into consideration for future policy development.
(more…)
AHA Survey on 340B Rebate Model Closes Jan. 10
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
What’s happening: The American Hospital Association (AHA) is asking hospitals to complete a survey by Jan. 10 to help it understand how a 340B rebate model would impact 340B member hospitals.
What else to know: Completing this 10-question survey will help AHA understand the financial, operational, and patient impacts that a rebate model — such as the one Johnson & Johnson sought to implement this year — would have on your hospital or health system.
(more…)
