Intelligence archive

California's health trailer bill AB 173 is law (Chapter 252): clinics lose their exemption from Medi-Cal enrollment moratoriums, and immigrant full-scope eligibility is restructured from October 1

Event: Sep 18

Governor Newsom approved AB 173 (Committee on Budget, health trailer bill) on September 18, 2026, and it was chaptered as Chapter 252, Statutes of 2026 the same day.

CMS tells states to verify medical frailty from claims, encounter and HIE data first

Event: Sep 8

CMS posted a state implementation deck on medical frailty under the Medicaid community-engagement interim final rule on September 8, 2026.

CMSP proposes cutting eligibility and benefits in its 35 small counties from January 1, 2027

Event: Aug 6

The County Medical Services Program Governing Board, which runs backup coverage for low-income uninsured adults in 35 small California counties, gave notice on August 6, 2026 of two public hearings, on September 18 and October 5, 2026 in Sacramento…

Enrollees, physician groups and the City of Columbus sue HHS over the work-requirement rule's medical-frailty provisions, Taylor v. Kennedy, D. Md.

Event: Sep 18

Taylor v. Kennedy, Jr. (D. Md. No. 1:26-cv-03705) was filed September 18, 2026 and assigned to Judge George L. Russell III.

40 states and Puerto Rico sign on to CMS's GENEROUS Medicaid drug-pricing model; the rest have until September 30

Event: Sep 18

CMS announced on September 18, 2026 that 40 states and Puerto Rico have signed agreements to join the GENEROUS Model, its Medicaid drug-payment model that ties prices to what other wealthy countries pay, and that remaining states have until September 30…

HRSA extends funding for 272 health centers in the FY2027 Service Area Competition

A HRSA notice published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2026 (91 FR 60626) extends, with funds, the current period of performance for the 272 health centers that must re-compete for their service areas in the fiscal year 2027 Service Area Competition.

Public charge suit: the court sets an October 9 initial conference; the rule remains in effect

Event: Sep 16

In State of New York v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (S.D.N.Y. No. 1:26-cv-07978), the 21-state challenge to the new public charge rule filed September 14, Judge Ronnie Abrams signed an order on September 16 setting an initial conference for October 9…

NHSC loan repayment forms open for comment until October 27, including a renamed 'Certification of Vulnerable Background' form

Event: Aug 28

HRSA published a Paperwork Reduction Act notice on August 28, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-17625) revising the forms for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program…

Comments on CMS's provider-tax implementation rule closed September 21 with no extension; the final rule is the next step

The public comment period on CMS-2452-P, the proposed rule implementing the provider-tax limits in Public Law 119-21 section 71115 (91 FR 46562, published July 23, 2026), closed at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on September 21, 2026.

California signs AB 1307

The Governor approved AB 1307 (Ávila Farías) on September 20, 2026 and the Secretary of State chaptered it the same day as Chapter 363, Statutes of 2026.

Open Door Community Health Centers stops starting hormone therapy and puberty blockers for patients under 19, citing HHS's revised grant-termination terms

Event: Sep 10

In a September 10, 2026 letter, Open Door Community Health Centers CEO Tory Starr said the Humboldt and Del Norte County health center will no longer initiate hormone therapy or prescribe puberty blockers for patients under 19…

Twenty-one states, Pennsylvania's governor and D.C. Sue to stop the new public charge rule four days before it takes effect, citing lost revenue at community health centers

Event: Sep 14

On September 14, 2026, 21 states, Pennsylvania's governor and the District of Columbia sued the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in federal court in Manhattan (New York v. DHS, No. 1:26-cv-07978)…

Texas's Medicaid application backlog grew from about 1,600 in January to more than 210,000 in August, and on-time processing fell from over 90% to 62%

Event: Sep 1

Texas Health and Human Services Commission data released by Texans Care for Children show the state went from processing more than 90% of Medicaid applications within the federal 45-day standard to 62% by late August, KERA reported September 1, 2026.

Texas HHSC's required 3% budget-reduction list proposes eliminating Healthy Texas Women navigator and cost-reimbursement funding

Event: Sep 4

After a July 14, 2026 directive from the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker, every Texas agency filed a schedule of 3% reductions with its 2028-29 Legislative Appropriations Request.

California's share of HRSA's New Access Points round: 27 organizations and more than $17 million, with at least 16 look-alikes receiving new awards

Event: Aug 13

At an August 13, 2026 announcement at Castle Family Health Centers in Atwater, HRSA Administrator Thomas Engels said 27 California clinic organizations are collectively receiving more than $17 million in New Access Point grants, the largest total of any state…

Contra Costa Health projects a $730 million five-year deficit, with its county hospital and 11-clinic network hit hardest

Event: Aug 25

Contra Costa Health told the Board of Supervisors on August 25, 2026 that budget-balancing initiatives it has identified reduce its FY2026-27 deficit from $80 million to $10 million…

Health centers ended 2025 with a $620 million operating margin, up from a loss of more than $1 billion, GW researchers call 2026 and 2027 high-risk

Event: Aug 24

A Geiger Gibson Program brief from George Washington University, published August 24, 2026 and based on HRSA's 2025 Uniform Data System, found that health center grantees served 32.7 million patients in 2025 and posted a $620 million operating margin (+1.1%)…

Health Net is ending its Medi-Cal assisted living benefit for about 3,500 members at year-end, and two partner plans intend to follow

Event: Aug 17

Health Net is canceling its assisted living benefit at the end of 2026 for approximately 3,500 Medi-Cal members, most of them elderly and many with dementia, CalMatters reported on August 17, 2026; CalViva Health and Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley…

Lone Star Family Health Center reports a data breach affecting 250,130 Texans and points patients to the Aesto Health vendor incident notice

Event: Aug 14

Lone Star Community Health Center in Conroe, which operates as Lone Star Family Health Center, reported a data breach to the Texas Attorney General affecting 250,130 Texans and 257,102 people in total…

CMS has not approved about $9.8 billion in Texas Medicaid directed payments for the fiscal year that began September 1, most of it hospital CHIRP funding

Event: Aug 31

The Texas Tribune reported August 31, 2026 that federal officials are withholding approval of about $9.8 billion in Texas Medicaid supplemental payments for the fiscal year that began September 1…

A watchdog group asks the IRS to investigate AltaMed's spending on its CEO and his family

Event: Aug 20

Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit watchdog, said on August 20, 2026 that it had filed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether AltaMed Health Services Corporation violated federal rules on…

CHCF evaluation: its CHW initiative trained or hired 350 workers across 28 organizations, but Medi-Cal payment alone rarely sustains the work

Event: Aug 7

The California Health Care Foundation published an evaluation by Bright Research Group on August 7, 2026 of its Amplifying Impact Initiative, launched in 2024 with support from the Cedars-Sinai Foundation to scale community health worker, promotor…

HRSA's FY24 340B audit results list repayment sanctions for three California clinics, including SAC Health System, whose corrective action status is still pending

Event: Aug 28

HRSA's FY24 340B audit results page, updated August 28, 2026, lists repayment to manufacturers as the sanction for three California clinics.

NACHC opens a members-only Workforce Pathways repository of 150+ health center and PCA workforce programs

Event: Aug 4

NACHC published its Workforce Pathways Promising Practices Repository and Community on August 4, 2026: a searchable library of more than 150 workforce programs collected and analyzed, with 48 states and regions engaged…

Open Door moved Ferndale's primary care to Fortuna on August 17 and plans a senior-focused model for the Ferndale site

Event: Jul 16

Open Door Community Health Centers announced on July 16, 2026 that primary care at Ferndale Community Health Center would move to Fortuna Community Health Center starting August 17, 2026.

Shasta County Public Health cuts another $2 million and will scale back services, with some programs moving to community partners

Event: Jul 24

Shasta County's Health and Human Services Agency confirmed in July 2026 an additional $2 million cut to Public Health, on top of a June budget that had already set Public Health at $25 million, $2 million below the prior year…

East Texas Community Clinic moves from look-alike to Section 330 grantee with a $650,000 New Access Point award

Event: Aug 26

East Texas Community Clinic Inc., a Health Center Program look-alike since May 2023 with clinics in Gun Barrel City and Athens, announced on August 26, 2026 that it has achieved full Federally Qualified Health Center status.

Frontera Healthcare Network takes over a Methodist primary care and walk-in clinic in Fredericksburg, where three clinicians stay on

Event: Aug 6

The Fredericksburg Standard reported August 6, 2026 that Frontera Healthcare Network would assume operation of the Primary Care and Walk-in Care Clinic run by Methodist Physicians Hill Country Medical Group, effective September 1.

Odessa's MCH Family Health Clinics, a look-alike since 2008, win a $650,000 Section 330 New Access Point award

Event: Aug 27

KOSA reported August 27, 2026 that Medical Center Health System received a $650,000 HRSA New Access Point grant that designates all four MCH Family Health Clinics in Odessa as federally qualified health centers: two family health clinics, a kids clinic…

Lone Star Family Health Center opens its sixth location, in Magnolia, with primary medical and dental care

Event: Jul 21

Lone Star Family Health Center, a Conroe-based federally qualified health center and nonprofit founded in 2002, has opened a sixth location in Magnolia at 18230 FM 1488, Suite 203, offering primary medical and dental care to patients of all ages…

Johnson & Johnson requires claims data on every 340B dispense and extends its contract-pharmacy policy to grantees on November 3

Healthcare Dive reported on September 14, 2026 that Johnson & Johnson began requiring 340B providers to submit claims data for each of its drugs dispensed or administered in order to keep receiving upfront 340B discounts, effective September 15, 2026.

DHCS's draft PPS guidance RESTRICTS outreach allowability

Correction and resolution (2026-09-12): we previously reported that the direction of this guidance was unknown. It is known, and it RESTRICTS. We obtained the notice and its attached draft from DHCS's own server and read them.

A Skid Row nonprofit filed 134 permanent layoffs effective November 3

Event: Sep 2

Homeless Health Care Los Angeles (HHCLA) filed three California WARN notices on September 2, 2026, processed September 4, all typed “Layoff Permanent” and all effective November 3, 2026: 442 Crocker St (117 employees), 655 Maple Ave (16)…

The Inland Empire's largest health center laid off 49 people and closed two San Bernardino clinics

SAC Health — a Section 330 health center in our own directory, roughly 255,000 visits a year across seven locations — laid off 49 nonclinical employees and closed two San Bernardino clinics to close a reported $10 million operating gap. The closures.

A final rule takes effect October 13 barring federal Medicaid and CHIP payment for a service line more than a dozen tracked health centers advertise

Event: Aug 13

CMS-2451-F (RIN 0938-AV73) published August 13, 2026 at 91 FR 52406-52474 and is effective october 13, 2026. It adds a new subpart N to 42 CFR part 441 and a new Sec. 457.476, and it was signed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services.

A vendor that archives the EHR you decommissioned was breached

Event: Aug 21

Aesto Health migrates and archives patient data when a health center replaces its EHR.

The stopgap signed September 2 sets a December 11 funding deadline, 20 days before the Community Health Center Fund expires

On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, the President signed H.R. 6500, the “Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027,” a short-term continuing resolution providing fiscal year 2027 appropriations to federal agencies through December 11, 2026.

OCR's 55th HIPAA access action adds a current records-request workflow warning

HHS OCR announced a $50,000 settlement and two-year corrective-action plan with Azul Vision after investigating a January 2023 medical-record request that was not fulfilled until January 2025.

Alabama's first $144M-plus rural-health grant round names PCA and FQHC recipients

Alabama announced 138 initial Rural Health Transformation grants totaling more than $144 million.