Medi-Cal: ground ambulance rates.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care services, including medical transportation services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law and regulations prescribe various requirements governing payment policies and reimbursement rates for these services. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish payment rates for ground ambulance services based on changes in the Consumer Price Index-Urban and the Geographic Practice Cost Index, and would require the department to designate a specified ambulance cost study conducted by the federal Government Accountability Office as the evidentiary base.