BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 678
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 678 (Pan)
As Amended August 15, 2011
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |76-1 |(June 2, 2011) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 1, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Establishes a supplemental payment program for
governmental entity providers of Medi-Cal emergency medical
transportation services using certified public expenditures
(CPEs) to match federal funds.
The Senate amendments add an urgency clause.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the bill as passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially tens of millions of dollars in federal
funds annually, matched by local CPEs and approximately $300,000
annually in costs to the Department of Health Care Services for
staff for the program and accounting and legal services.
COMMENTS : According to the author, local fire departments, as a
first responder, are transporting Medi-Cal patients at an ever
increasing rate as the health system continues to deteriorate.
The author states that Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for
ambulance services, as in many other categories, have not kept
pace with the cost of providing the services. The author
further points out fire departments are an essential part of the
health care safety net and are unique because of the mandate to
respond, treat and transport all emergency patients without
exception and without regard to a patient's ability to pay. The
purpose of this bill is to enact a mechanism to provide
supplemental payments for unreimbursed expenses incurred by
these local agencies without cost to the General Fund.
CPEs are one of several mechanisms that a state may employ to
obtain federal financial participation and make supplemental
payments to Medi-Cal providers without cost to the state General
AB 678
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Fund. Under a CPE arrangement, government providers certify
their Medicaid expenditures to the state, and the state then
obtains federal reimbursement on the basis of these CPEs.
Medicaid law allows states to finance the nonfederal share of
payments with CPEs as long as the funds are derived from state
or local tax revenue and certified by units of local or state
government as eligible for federal reimbursement. States are
responsible for ensuring that expenditures are eligible for
federal reimbursement by reviewing standard cost reports filed
annually by each government provider. In no event may the
reimbursement rate exceed the equivalent Medicare rate.
Analysis Prepared by : Marjorie Swartz / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0002148