Slow Spending Growth
OHCA will collect, analyze, and publicly report data on total health care expenditures, and enforce spending targets set by OHCA’s Health Care Affordability Board.
Statewide Spending Target
In April 2024, the Health Care Affordability Board approved a statewide health care spending target. A health care spending target establishes a shared expectation for health plans and providers to meet annual rates of growth for per capita health care spending. A spending target is intended to slow health care spending growth so that spending on health care does not continue to crowd out household budgets for other necessities such as housing, food, and education. California’s spending target is based on historical median household income growth, signaling that health care spending should not grow faster than the income of California families.
The target will start at 3.5% in 2025 and phase down to 3% by 2029.
| Performance Year | Per Capita Spending Target |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.5% |
| 2026 | 3.5% |
| 2027 | 3.2% |
| 2028 | 3.2% |
| 2029 | 3.0% |
Read the Office’s Recommendations to the Board regarding the healthcare spending target.
Total Health Care Expenditures (THCE)
Resources for data submitters:
The portal below allows health care entities to submit expenditure data.
THCE Data Submitter Workgroup
This monthly meeting is an opportunity for THCE data submitters to receive information on submission requirements, troubleshoot data submissions, and address technical questions.
Statutes & Regulations
Office of Health Care Affordability
The Health Care Affordability Board’s Adopted Spending Target (April 2024 meeting) has been codified in regulation as Statewide Spending Target, section 97447 in Health Care Spending Targets, Article 2 of Chapter 11.5 of Division 7 of Title 22, California Code of Regulations, effective June 27, 2024.