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Laws & Regulations

Program Statutes

Statutory authorization for the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) and its programs is primarily found in Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, §127000 et seq.

Division 107 is divided into parts that roughly correlate to the Offices within the Department. Some HCAI Offices administer more than one program. (Note that specific program statutes may be located in other areas of the Health and Safety Code, or in other Codes.)

  • Office of Health Care Affordability – Part 2, Chapter 2.6, commencing with §127500
  • CalRx Program—Part 2, Chapter 10, commencing with §127690
  • Office of Health Workforce Development– Part 3, commencing with §127750
  • Office of Information Services– Part 5, commencing with §128675
  • Office of Health Facility Loan Insurance – Part 6, commencing with §129000
  • Office of Statewide Hospital Planning and Development– Part 7, commencing with §129675

California Codes, including the Health and Safety Code, can be accessed through the Official California Legislative Information website. Select “California Law” and then “Health and Safety Code”.

Program Regulations

Most HCAI program regulations are found in Division 7 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR), commencing with §90001.

Division 7 is divided into chapters – HCAI Offices may have regulations in more than one chapter.

  • Office of Health Workforce Development (Note that specific program regulations may be found in other parts of the CCR)
    • Chapter 6, commencing with §92001
    • Chapters 14 – 17, commencing with §97700.1
  • Office of Information Services
    • Chapter 9, commencing with §96040,
    • Chapter 9.5, commencing with §96060,
    • Chapter 10, commencing with §97003
  • Office of Health Facility Loan Insurance
    • Chapter 5, commencing with §91401
  • Office of Health Care Affordability
    • Chapter 11.5, commencing with §97431

Office of Statewide Hospital Planning and Development adopts building standards that are found in Title 24.

The California Code of Regulations (except for Title 24) can be accessed through the Office of Administrative Law or directly through the California Code of Regulations.

Newly Adopted, Amended, or Repealed Regulations

Posted pursuant to Government Code Section 11343(c).

See the California Code of Regulations website to view a simple text version of the documents in this section.

Proposed Regulations

Hospital Fair Billing Program

HCAI’s Hospital Fair Billing Program regulation proposal was submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), and the public comment period began on Friday, June 16, 2023. The last day to submit comments was August 1, 2023. The proposed regulations are expected to be implemented in January 2024. Please see the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Additional rulemaking documents are linked below. For more information, visit the Hospital Fair Billing Program (HFBP) page.

HCAI’s Hospital Fair Billing Program revised text of the proposed regulations for the second comment period was made available to the public on Friday, August 18, 2023. The revisions are substantially related to the original proposed text and are being made available for public review and comment for a period of at least 15 days prior to adoption. All revisions are shown with a double underline for new language and a double strikethrough for deleted language. The last day to submit comments regarding the revised text of the proposed regulations is September 5, 2023. The proposed regulations are expected to be implemented in January 2024. Please see the Notice of Modification to Text of Proposed Regulation. The revised text of the proposed regulations is linked below.

Health Care Payments Data Program

HCAI’s Health Care Payments Data Use, Access, and Release Regulations proposal was published by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) in the California Regulatory Notice Register on June 2, 2023, which also marks the beginning of the public comment period. The last day to submit comments is July 18, 2023.  Additional rulemaking documents are linked below.  Please see the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The proposed regulations are expected to be implemented in 2024. Based on comments received during the initial public comment period, HCAI proposes changes to the proposed regulations text. HCAI is making available for public comment the full text of the amended regulations for a period of 45 days ending at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, February 01, 2024. For more information, visit the Health Care Payments Data (HPD) Program page. 

This 15-day comment period is in response to the feedback received regarding the previous comment period initiated in December. HCAI is providing this 15-day comment period to ensure that members of the public have the opportunity to comment on the revisions to the proposed regulations. HCAI is currently accepting comments from April 4, 2024, to April 19, 2024. Please see the notice for this comment period and the text of the revised proposed regulations directly below.

HCAI has updated the Initial Statement of Reasons to include the changes indicated in the Revised Text of the Proposed Regulations. The Updated Initial Statement of Reasons is available for public review from April 4, 2024, to April 19, 2024. A link to the Updated Initial Statement of Reasons is directly below.

Health Care Affordability

The Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) adopted emergency regulations to implement the Health Care Market Oversight Program (Cost and Market Impact Review). The Official current regulations in full are here.

On February 1, 2024, the Office of Administrative Law approved OHCA’s proposed action to amend Article 1, Chapter 11.5, Division7 of Title 22, California Code of Regulations (CCR) sections 97431, 97438, and 97442. This amendment is adopted in compliance with Title 1, Division 1, Chapter 1, Article 2, section 100, of the CCR, and does not materially alter any requirement, right, responsibility, condition, prescription, or other regulatory element of any CCR. This regulatory action became effective on February 1, 2024.  The amendments may be viewed separately here and the reasons for the amendments are specified here.

On December 18, 2023, the Office of Administrative Law approved the regulation with an immediate effective date. See below for regulatory documents.

On March 4, 2024, the Office of Administrative Law approved OHCA’s Total Health Care Expenditures (THCE) Data Submission regulation with an immediate effective date. See below for regulatory documents.

Distressed Hospital Financial Monitoring

HCAI adopted emergency regulations for Distressed Hospital Financial Monitoring, which are in effect for Hospital Quarterly Financial and Utilization Reports for the quarter ending March 31, 2024.

On March 21, 2024, the Office of Administrative Law approved the regulation with an immediate effective date. See below for regulatory documents.

Hospital Community Benefits Plan Reporting Program

HCAI’s Hospital Community Benefits Plan (CBP) Reporting Program regulation proposal was submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), and the public comment period began on Friday April 19, 2024. All comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on June 4, 2024. The proposed regulations are expected to be implemented on October 1, 2024. Please see the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Additional rulemaking documents are linked below. For more information, visit the Hospital Community Benefits Plan (CBP) Reporting Program web page.

Conflict of Interest

The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires certain officials and employees who serve in positions designated in an agency’s conflict of interest code to publicly disclose specified personal economic interests. Such economic interests are disclosed on the Form 700, Statement of Economic Interests. Pursuant to Government Code section 81008, Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests are public records and will be made available for public inspection.

The HCAI Conflict of Interest Code identifies the positions that are subject to the Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests filing requirements. It also specifies the types of economic interests required to be disclosed. For any questions contact the HCAI Filing Officer.

View Conflict of Interest Code