Health care programs: provider reimbursement rates.

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 benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law also requires the department to administer various health programs, including the California Children's Services Program, Genetically Handicapped Person's Program, Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, State-Only Family Planning Program, and Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT) Program. Existing law requires provider rates of payment for services under these programs to be identical to the rates of payment for the same service performed by the same provider type pursuant to the Medi-Cal program. This bill would revise these provisions to, instead, require provider rates of payment for services under these programs to be identical to the rates of payment for the same service performed by the same provider type pursuant to the Medi-Cal program, except with regard to hospital inpatient rates of payment, which the bill would require to be 90% of the Medi-Cal hospital interim rates of payment, as developed by the department.