(a) A provision of a Budget Act or other statute shall not be interpreted or applied to limit the amount of federal financial participation, otherwise available under federal law, which may be reimbursable to counties in support of Medi-Cal administration costs for eligibility determinations. A provision of a Budget Act or another statute shall not be interpreted or applied to restrict the amount of federal financial participation for Medi-Cal administration costs, for eligibility determinations, otherwise available under federal law, which may be claimed by the department, and, upon receipt from the federal government, transferred by the department to a county.
(b) The Budget Acts referred to in subdivision (a) include, but are not limited to:
(1) Chapter 510 of the Statutes of 1980, including Item 288 of Section 2 thereof.
(2) Chapter 99 of the Statutes of 1981, including Items 426-101-001 and 426-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
(3) Chapter 326 of the Statutes of 1982, including Items 4260-101-001 and 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
(4) Chapter 324 of the Statutes of 1983, including Items 4260-101-001 and 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
(5) Chapter 258 of the Statutes of 1984, including Items 4260-101-001 and 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
(6) Chapter 111 of the Statutes of 1985, including Items 4260-101-001 and 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
(7) Chapter 186 of the Statutes of 1986, including Items 4260-101-001 and 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 thereof.
Provisions of the Budget Acts listed in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, shall not be interpreted or applied as a prohibition regarding the amount of costs counties may incur for Medi-Cal eligibility administration activities. The provisions of those Budget Acts shall be interpreted and applied as a means of limiting the allocation of state general funds to be paid in support of Medi-Cal eligibility determination activities.
(c) To the extent necessary to effectuate the intent of subdivisions (a) and (b), the following Budget Act provisions shall be inoperative:
(1) Provision 17.5 of Item 426-101-890 of Section 2.00 of Chapter 99 of the Statutes of 1981.
(2) The incorporation by reference of Provision 16 of Item 4260-101-001 of Section 2.00 of Chapter 326 of the Statutes of 1982 into Provision 1 of Item 4260-101-890 of that chapter.
(3) The incorporation by reference of Provision 15 of Item 4260-101-001 of Section 2.00 of Chapter 324 of the Statutes of 1983 into Provision 1 of Item 4260-101-890 of Section 2.00 of that chapter.
(d) Sections 14154 and 14154.1 shall not be interpreted or applied to restrict the amount of federal financial participation, not deferred or disallowed by federal law or regulation which may be reimbursable to any county for Medi-Cal administration costs for eligibility determinations. The County Administrative Cost Control Plan established pursuant to Section 14154 shall not be interpreted or applied as a prohibition regarding the amount of costs counties may incur for Medi-Cal county administration costs. That plan shall be interpreted and applied only as a means of limiting the allocation of state general funds to be paid in support of those county costs.
(e) Should federal financial participation be deferred or disallowed regarding funds transferred by the department to a county for costs incurred for Medi-Cal eligibility determinations, and that federal financial participation was matched by county expenditures, the county which received those federal funds shall repay the funds in question at such time as the federal deferral or disallowance has been issued. If the federal deferral or disallowance is noticed or issued prior to the transfer of the federal funds from the department to a county, the department shall not be responsible for transferring the federal funds to the county until the deferral or disallowance issue regarding these funds has been resolved.
(f) The department shall timely appeal from the federal deferrals or disallowances and the affected county may assist the department in preparing and presenting a pending appeal regarding a federal deferral or disallowance.
(g) Medi-Cal eligibility determination activities are undertaken by counties on behalf of the department. Reasonable and necessary costs incurred by counties relating to the eligibility determination activities shall be recognized as costs incurred by the state for purposes of inclusion in the nonfederal share of Medi-Cal eligibility determination expenditures for claiming federal financial participation.
(h) Subdivision (e) shall not apply to agreements between the department and a county executed prior to September 27, 1987.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 179, Sec. 247. Effective January 1, 2009.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018