Medi-Cal: hospitals: 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 hospital quality assurance fee, as specified, on certain general acute care hospitals to be deposited into the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund. Existing law provides that moneys in the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund are continuously appropriated during the first program period of January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2016, inclusive, and available only for certain purposes, including paying for health care coverage for children, as specified, and making supplemental payments for certain services to private hospitals and increased capitation payments to Medi-Cal managed care plans. For subsequent program periods, existing law requires that the moneys in the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund be used for the above-described purposes upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. Existing law provides that these provisions are inoperative on January 1, 2017, and that a hospital is not required to pay the hospital quality assurance fee after that date, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions to January 1, 2018. The bill would instead, for the second program period and subsequent program periods, require moneys in the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund to be continuously appropriated, thereby making an appropriation, for the above-described purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.