As former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra continues to dominate in the polls less than a month from Election Day, CHA is taking every opportunity to build connections with him and his team ahead of a critical period for health care policy in California.
Earlier this week, Secretary Becerra took time to meet in Sacramento with several members of CHA’s Board of Trustees. He talked about his views on health care and, given his former role in President Biden’s cabinet, how he approaches issues important to hospitals with a deeper baseline understanding than most.
Board members also asked the presumptive governor questions about some of the top challenges facing hospitals: deep federal cuts to Medi-Cal, the looming 2030 seismic mandate, and access to care given actions by the Office of Health Care Affordability.
The time for deeper conversations about how these and other issues get resolved will come after the 2026 election is decided, but early meetings like these are critical to lay the foundation for effective advocacy in the future.
Starting in 2027, California hospitals will begin to feel many of the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the loss of coverage for more than 2 million Californians — all of whose health care needs will not change as a result of their loss of coverage. Secretary Becerra has been vocal in his commitment to keeping Californians covered, a priority CHA shares.
And while Secretary Becerra didn’t share policy specifics when meeting with Board members this week, his campaign website offers some insight into key early actions, notably:
- “I will immediately assess which rural hospitals, community clinics, and safety-net providers are most at risk and execute emergency state interventions to prevent cascading closures.”
- “I will issue a directive requiring all healthcare oversight agencies to identify and eliminate duplicative requirements that add cost without improving care, produce a unified plan to modernize and consolidate oversight activities, and partner with health plans and providers to review outdated facility standards and operational rules that drive up costs and restrict innovation. Every dollar freed from administrative waste is a dollar that can go toward expanding access.”
Many thanks to those members of the board who joined for this early opportunity to connect with Secretary Becerra. It’s moments like these that will help turn problems into solutions as a new administration takes the reins in January.
