California Assembly and Senate approved an emergency bill to struggling hospitals in the state

The California Assembly and Senate passed an emergency bill on Thursday to give $150 million loans to struggling hospitals in the state, amid recent reports that as many as 20% of California’s hospitals are at risk of closure and bankruptcy.

Assembly Bill 112, authored by the Assembly Committee on Budget, would create the Distressed Hospital Loan Program as well as the Distressed Hospital Loan Program Fund. Under the program, not-for-profit hospitals and public hospitals facing financial distress or needing to reverse a closure would receive loans to stay open. The Department of Health Care Access and Information would administer the Loan Program, with hospital loan determinations to be made by a collaborated group consisting of the State Department of Health Care Services, the Department of Managed Health Care, and the State Department of Public Health. The program under AB 112 would continue on until January 1, 2032.

To read the full report from California Globe, click here.