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

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. Read from the Legislative Counsel's digest: DHCS may already impose a 180-day moratorium on enrolling new Medi-Cal providers to protect public funds, and the law previously exempted certain clinics and health facilities; AB 173 removes that exemption and requires notice to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee every 180 days a moratorium is in effect.

It lets DHCS, with federal approval, deny or terminate a provider that discloses a risky affiliation within the prior five years, and makes a temporary suspension effective the day notice is sent rather than 15 days later. For immigrants with a specified status, it restructures eligibility so that from October 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 those not described in certain federal provisions receive full-scope state-funded Medi-Cal; pregnant and postpartum people are exempted from the dental limitation; and maintenance dialysis becomes a covered service under restricted-scope Medi-Cal from October 1.

For health centers, the moratorium change matters most to anyone planning a new site or new provider enrollment.