As California hospitals face financial challenges, lawmakers in the state are considering multiple funding efforts to prevent them from closing or ending services, CalMatters reported April 6.
Legislative proposals include a bill that would create a hospital emergency loan program to provide loans to prevent a hospital closure or facilitate the reopening of a closed hospital. Lawmakers are also considering a bill that would reinstate California's tax on managed care organizations, resulting in increased payments to hospitals and other providers.
Additionally, lawmakers are considering legislation that would prohibit the state attorney general from requiring certain conditions for hospital transactions, CalMatters reported.
The proposals come as some California hospitals have closed and others have ended services. Hollister-based Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital ended home health services; Madera Community Hospital officially closed at the end of December; and Gary Herbst, CEO of cash-strapped Kaweah Health, in March made a plea for financial help to keep the Visalia, Calif.-based hospital running. Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, told Becker's in March that many communities are at risk of hospital closure, and the financial situation at hospitals "is nothing that we have seen in recent history."
Amid this backdrop, CHA is requesting $1.5 billion from the state for struggling hospitals, according to CalMatters.
Read the full report here.