For 2026, California is in the second year of a two-year legislative session.  And while a significant number of bills have carried over from last year, we are seeing the introduction of new bills for 2026.  With economic uncertainty and reduced federal funds, the state is facing challenges.  However, lawmakers are still pursuing some ambitious goals for this year, with a focus on expanding and protecting coverage, Medi-Cal payments, provider professional practice, and drug regulations.  Below, we look at some of the new legislation introduced in California for 2026 that […]

On February 17, 2026, California Hospital Association (CHA) and Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) representatives were before the Superior Court of San Francisco as CHA contested the court’s tentative ruling sustaining OHCA’s demurrer. A demurrer is a motion that does not address factual allegations in a case, but rather challenges a plaintiff’s legal basis for a suit.  In December, the OHCA filed a demurrer to the petition for writ of mandate filed by the CHA. OHCA’s filing argued that CHA’s petition (1) lacked “a concrete and particularized injury” to […]

On January 22, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce held a hearing titled “Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of Health Insurance Affordability.” The discussion centered on health care costs, patient access, and affordability across the entire health insurance marketplace, and focused on the role insurers play in care delivery. Meaningful Congressional action on rising healthcare prices has been limited in recent years. The purpose of Congressional hearings is often to gather information about a specific topic likely to be used to shape future legislation. For […]

It is mid-February 2026, and most state legislative sessions are officially in full swing.  This year’s docket is a mix of carryover issues and intriguing new bills that could reshape the healthcare landscape.  But in policy work, “enacted” isn’t the only measure of success—influential ideas often spark trends across states or take several sessions of persistent reintroduction before they finally cross the finish line. Snapshot of 2026 Sessions For 2026, only 46 states will have regular legislative sessions, with Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas not holding regular sessions in […]

On Thursday, February 5, a federal jury ordered Medtronic to pay $381.7 million to Applied Medical for antitrust violations, finding that Medtronic used its market power to illegally stifle competition through bundling and exclusive-dealing contract terms. Parties to the Case Both Medtronic and Applied Medical produce a surgical instrument called an advanced bipolar device (ABD), which uses electrical current to cut tissue and seal blood vessels during surgery.  Medtronic is the largest medical device supplier in the world.  Medtronic has a dominant market share in the ABD market while Applied […]

Healthcare Costs Growth In National Health Expenditures: It’s Not The Prices, Stupid Health Affairs Michael Chernew The article seeks to identify the causes of rising healthcare costs by assessing trends across sectors, including coding intensity, AI medical services, product costs, and healthcare consolidation and administrative shifts. Chernew reports that coding intensity has increased and explores the possible relationship to AI medical services, though notes it may be too early to identify any trends. Broad healthcare infrastructure changes show conflicting trends in prices, and the author advocates for more focus on […]

On January 9, California Governor Newsom released his first proposed budget for California’s 2026-2027 fiscal year, outlining $348.9 billion in state spending, $30 billion more than the current 2025-2026 budget.  California is facing challenges as federal funding for key programs has diminished under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.  Additionally, the budget is based on projected state revenues, which are difficult to determine given differing economic forecasts. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill reduces federal funding for California’s Medicaid program by $30 billion a year and makes significant cuts to food […]

Discussions of health care consolidation often center on providers and insurers, but growing concentration among the companies that operate behind the scenes poses equally serious risks.  For example, the Change Healthcare data breach in early 2024 caused significant disruptions in healthcare because Change processes approximately half of all U.S. medical claims, and a single cyberattack disrupted large swaths of the health care system.  Similar dynamics are playing out in other sectors of the health care system.  More than 305 million patients have electronic health records controlled by Epic.  At the […]

Antitrust Enforcement Fixing a Broken System: Policy Responses to Hospital Acquisitions of Physician Practices That Limit Health Care Access for U.S. Consumers Progressive Policy Institute Diana Moss, Alix Ware, Lief Lin By 2023, more than half of all independent physician practices (IPPs) were no longer independent, but owned by hospitals, health systems, or corporate entities, meaning 78% of all U.S. physicians were employed by large provider organizations. Loss of IPPs through vertical consolidation leads to higher prices, reduced access, loss of physician autonomy, and reduced patient choice. This study highlights […]

On November 9, the Indiana Department of Health issued a Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) to allow Union Hospital to acquire Terre Haute Regional Hospital. The proposed merger would effectively combine the two only acute care hospitals in Vigo County and create a near‐monopoly for inpatient hospital services in the Terre Haute, Indiana area. The proposed acquisition drew opposition from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (under both the Biden and Trump administrations) and the state’s own Attorney General (AG). The COPA prevents state enforcement to challenge the merger as an […]