CaliforniaCalifornia would fund isolated hospitals to keep maternity services ready
Isolated hospitals that meet strict service and eligibility rules could receive quarterly payments to help keep maternity and related specialty care ready, if lawmakers provide funding.
What it does
Eligible isolated hospitals could receive quarterly payments to help keep maternity and related specialty services ready. Payments would depend on daily deliveries and available funding.
Participating hospitals would report deliveries, staffing and service availability, quality measures, and verified costs to the department.
Argument forFunding could help isolated hospitals keep round-the-clock maternity and related specialty services available when they have few deliveries.
Argument againstHospitals with few daily deliveries could receive larger payments per delivery, which may make payments uneven across hospitals.
More detail
The department would pay participating hospitals quarterly to help cover the cost of keeping specialty staff and services ready. A hospital would have to provide round-the-clock general surgery, labor and delivery with nursery beds, and inpatient pediatric services. It must be a critical access hospital providing obstetric services, at least 75 miles from the nearest tertiary hospital, and perform no more than 225 inpatient surgeries a year. It must also meet licensing, Medi-Cal, and community access requirements. The fund could pay the department only if the Legislature appropriates money for the program. The hospital could receive no more than $5 million per year. Hospitals would have to use the money for staff pay and benefits, insurance, contracted clinical staff, or other standby capacity costs. The program would run until January 1, 2030.
Participating hospitals would report service, delivery, quality, and cost information to the department. The reporting rule would apply to hospitals participating in the pilot program. The department could conduct annual audits or program reviews, and hospitals would have to continue meeting all program requirements to remain in the program. The first report would be due April 1, 2027, with reports due quarterly after that.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Sep 18Vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom.Latest
- Aug 27Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.To Governor
- Aug 20In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.Minor
- Vote recorded Special Consent. Result: pass.Upper
- Aug 20Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5590.).Passed Senate
- Aug 18Ordered to special consent calendar.
- Aug 13Read second time. Ordered to third reading.Minor
- Vote recorded Do pass. Result: pass.Upper
- Aug 13From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 13).Minor
- Aug 3In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.Minor
- Vote recorded Placed on suspense file. Result: pass.Upper
- Jul 2From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (July 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.Minor
- Jul 1
- Vote recorded Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Result: pass.Upper
- Jun 3Referred to Com. on HEALTH.Minor
- May 27In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.Minor
- May 26Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 5302.)Passed Assembly
- Vote recorded AB 1882 Ellis Assembly Third Reading. Result: pass.Lower
- May 18Read second time. Ordered to third reading.Minor
- May 14From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 14).Minor
- Vote recorded Do pass. Result: pass.Lower
- May 6In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.Minor
- Apr 22From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.Minor
- Apr 21
- Vote recorded Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 23Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.Minor
- Mar 19From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.Major
- Mar 19Referred to Com. on HEALTH.Minor
- Feb 13From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
- Feb 12Read first time. To print.Introduced
HealthcareReproductive RightsPublic Safety