California Targets High-Cost Hospitals with Spending Caps

California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) is moving beyond broader policy-setting and into direct intervention at the provider level, reports The National Law Review. Beginning in 2026, California will impose strict cost growth caps on seven hospitals with high prices concentrated in the Bay Area and Monterey Bay. Once the law goes into effect, these hospitals must limit spending growth to 1.8%, dropping to 1.6% by 2029.