What’s happening:  Recognizing that some hospital leaders have expressed interest in the concept of freestanding emergency departments (EDs) — which are not currently permitted in California — CHA has developed a document that outlines the current regulatory landscape and key considerations for this type of service model.  

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What’s happening: Last week, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) submitted its revised Hospital Fee Program tax model for calendar year 2025 (Program 9) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).   

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What’s happening:  At its February meeting, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved the adoption of the California Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate Financial Risk Disclosure Initial Regulation, an initial step in meeting the regulatory requirements of Senate Bills (SB) 253 and 261. 

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What’s happening: Hospital quality leaders have until March 27 to register for Cal HQ’s  in-person kickoff meeting, to be held April 14 in Long Beach and April 30 in Sacramento.   

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What’s happening: The Advisory Group for the Future of Medi-Cal Commission held its second meeting on March 3. The group met to review and provide feedback on draft priorities that will help shape the commission’s recommendations for the long-term direction of California’s Medicaid program. 

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What’s happening: The American Hospital Association (AHA) invites member organizations to apply for the 2027 Foster G. McGaw Prize, which honors health care organizations that demonstrate alignment between community health needs and co-designed programs.

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What’s happening: Today, CHA submitted a letter to the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board, urging it to clearly articulate in regulation additional considerations that could justify an organization exceeding the spending growth cap — like investments in patient-centered care, baseline financial conditions, payer mix, and macroeconomic trends.  

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What’s happening: In a critical period for this year’s ballot initiatives, hospitals are encouraged to join coalitions supporting CHA’s Health Care Worker Right to Vote initiative and opposing the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West’s (SEIU-UHW’s) compensation cap and clinic funding initiatives.  

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Earlier this week, members of Congress pressed some of the nation’s top health care leaders, including Rick Pollack, President & CEO of the American Hospital Association and David Aizuss, MD, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the American Medical Association, about the role of health care providers in controlling health care costs. 

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CHA invites members to join a webinar featuring policy experts from the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) on the latest updates to the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) following passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA).

The legislation provides a temporary reprieve from Medicare CLFS payment cuts and establishes a new timeline for private payor data reporting, which CMS will use to set Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) rates beginning January 1, 2027.

Applicable laboratories — including many hospital outreach labs — will be required to report private payor data to CMS during the May 1–July 31,2026 reporting period, the first reporting requirement since 2019.

During this session, ACLA experts will explain the updated reporting requirements, how CMS will use the data to set 2027 rates, and how laboratories can prepare for the upcoming reporting period. The discussion will also include an update on federal policy and advocacy efforts related to PAMA reform.