Public health care: Medi-Cal: district hospitals.

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 establishes the Medi-Cal Hospital/Uninsured Care Demonstration Project Act, which revises hospital supplemental payment methodologies under the Medi-Cal program in order to maximize the use of federal funds consistent with federal Medicaid law and to stabilize the distribution of funding for hospitals that provide care to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured patients. Existing law requires the department to seek a successor demonstration project or federal waiver of Medicaid law to implement specified objectives, which may include better care coordination for seniors, persons with disabilities, and children with special health care needs. Existing law provides that to the extent the provisions under the Medi-Cal Hospital/Uninsured Care Demonstration Project Act do not conflict with the provisions of, or the Special Terms and Conditions of, this demonstration project, the provisions of the Medi-Cal Hospital/Uninsured Care Demonstration Project Act shall apply. Existing law requires the department, pursuant to federal approval of the successor demonstration project, to authorize a local Low Income Health Program (LIHP) to provide health care services to eligible low-income individuals under certain circumstances. Under existing law, a county, city and county, consortium of counties serving a region of more than one county, or a health authority may be eligible to operate an approved LIHP. This bill would require the department to request any additional federal funding identified in the recalculation of the successor demonstration project and make those funds available to district hospitals in an amount proportionate to the amount of uncompensated care provided by those hospitals. This bill would require the department to encourage LIHP contractors to permit district hospitals to utilize certified public expenditures or intergovernmental transfers, or both, to access federal funds to provide reimbursement for LIHP eligible patients. Existing law requires the department to design and implement an intergovernmental transfer program relating to Medi-Cal managed care services provided by designated and nondesignated public hospitals in order to increase capitation payments for the purpose of increasing their reimbursement. This bill would, with respect to district hospitals, require the department to implement this program and secure federal funding by July 1, 2013.