SB 239, as introduced, Hernandez. Medi-Cal: hospital quality assurance fee.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law, subject to federal approval, imposes a quality assurance fee, as specified, on certain general acute care hospitals from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013. Existing law, subject to federal approval, requires the fee to be deposited into the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund, and requires that the moneys in the fund be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only for certain purposes, including, among other things, paying for health care coverage for children and making supplemental payments for certain services to private hospitals, increased capitation payments to Medi-Cal managed care plans, and increased payments to mental health plans.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to impose a quality assurance fee to be paid by hospitals, which would be used to increase federal financial participation in order to make supplemental Medi-Cal payments to hospitals for the period of January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015, and to help pay for health care coverage for low-income children. This bill would require the department to make every effort to obtain the necessary federal approvals to implement the quality assurance fee as described.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares both of the
2following:
3(a) The Legislature continues to recognize the essential role that
4hospitals play in serving the state’s Medi-Cal beneficiaries. To
5that end, it has been, and remains, the intent of the Legislature to
6improve funding for hospitals and obtain all available federal funds
7to make supplemental Medi-Cal payments to hospitals.
8(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that funding provided to
9hospitals through a hospital quality assurance fee be explored with
10the goal of increasing access to care and improving hospital
11reimbursement through supplemental Medi-Cal payments to
12hospitals.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to impose a quality
14assurance fee to be paid by hospitals, which would be used to
15increase federal financial participation in order to make
16supplemental Medi-Cal payments to hospitals for the period of
17January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015, and to help pay for
18health care coverage for low-income children.
19(b) The State Department of Health Care Services shall make
20every effort to obtain the necessary federal approvals to implement
21the quality assurance fee described in subdivision (a) in order to
22make supplemental Medi-Cal payments to hospitals for the period
23of January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015.
24(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the quality assurance
25fee be implemented only if all of the following conditions are met:
26(1) The quality assurance fee is established in consultation with
27the hospital community.
28(2) The quality assurance fee, including any interest earned after
29collection by the department, is deposited into segregated funds
30apart from the General Fund and used exclusively for supplemental
31Medi-Cal payments to hospitals, health care coverage for
32low-income children, and for the direct costs of administering the
33program by the department.
P3 1(3) No hospital shall be required to pay the quality assurance
2fee to the department unless and until the state receives and
3maintains federal approval of the quality assurance fee and related
4supplemental payments to hospitals.
5(4) The full amount of the quality assurance fee assessed and
6collected remains available only for the purposes specified by the
7Legislature in this act.
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