(a) Each eligible facility, as described in subdivision (b), may, in addition to the rate of payment that the facility would otherwise receive for Medi-Cal outpatient services, receive supplemental Medi-Cal reimbursement to the extent provided in this section.
(b) A facility shall be eligible for supplemental reimbursement only if the facility has all of the following characteristics continuously during a state fiscal year commencing with the 2002 fiscal year, and thereafter:
(1) Provides services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
(2) Is an acute care hospital providing outpatient hospital services. For purposes of this paragraph, “acute care hospital” means the facilities described by subdivision (a) or (b), or both, of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) Is owned or operated by a county, city, city and county, the University of California, or health care district organized pursuant to Division 23 (commencing with Section 32000) of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) An eligible facility’s supplemental reimbursement pursuant to this section shall be calculated and paid as follows:
(1) The supplemental reimbursement to an eligible facility, as described in subdivision (b), shall be equal to the amount of federal financial participation received as a result of the claims submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (g).
(2) In no instance shall the amount certified pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), when combined with the amount received from all other sources of reimbursement from the Medi-Cal program, exceed 100 percent of projected costs, as determined pursuant to the Medi-Cal State Plan, for outpatient services at each facility.
(3) The supplemental Medi-Cal reimbursement provided by this section shall be distributed under a payment methodology based on outpatient services provided to Medi-Cal patients at the eligible facility, either on a per-visit basis, per-procedure basis, or any other federally permissible basis. The department shall seek approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the payment methodology to be utilized, and may not make any payment pursuant to this section prior to obtaining that approval.
(d) (1) It is the Legislature’s intent in enacting this section to provide the supplemental reimbursement described in this section without any expenditure from the General Fund.
(2) The state share of the supplemental reimbursement submitted to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for purposes of claiming federal financial participation shall be paid only with funds from the governmental entities described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) and certified to the state as provided in subdivision (e).
(e) A particular governmental entity, described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), on behalf of any eligible facility owned or operated by the entity, shall do all of the following:
(1) Certify, in conformity with the requirements of Section 433.51 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, that the claimed expenditures for the outpatient services are eligible for federal financial participation.
(2) Provide evidence supporting the certification as specified by the department.
(3) Submit data as specified by the department to determine the appropriate amounts to claim as expenditures qualifying for federal financial participation.
(4) Keep, maintain, and have readily retrievable, any records specified by the department to fully disclose reimbursement amounts to which the eligible facility is entitled, and any other records required by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
(f) An eligible facility as described in subdivision (b), as a condition of receiving supplemental reimbursement under this section, shall enter into and maintain a contract with the department for the purpose of implementing this section, and to reimburse the department for its administrative costs of operating this program.
(g) (1) The department shall promptly seek any necessary federal approvals for the implementation of this section. If necessary to obtain federal approval, the department may limit the program to those costs that are allowable expenditures under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act (Subchapter 19 (commencing with Section 1396) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code). If federal approval is not obtained for implementation of this section, this section shall become inoperative.
(2) The department shall submit claims for federal financial participation for the expenditures for the services described in subdivision (e) that are allowable expenditures under federal law.
(3) The department shall, on an annual basis, submit any necessary materials to the federal government to provide assurances that claims for federal financial participation will include only those expenditures that are allowable under federal law.
(h) This section shall become inoperative in the event, and on the date, of a final judicial determination by any court of appellate jurisdiction or a final determination by the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the supplemental reimbursement provided in this section must be made to any facility not described in this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 62, Sec. 332. Effective January 1, 2004. Conditionally inoperative as provided in subd. (h).)
Last modified: October 25, 2018