(a) (1) With respect to each project year through October 31, 2010, designated public hospitals, or governmental entities with which they are affiliated, shall be eligible to receive safety net care pool payments from the Health Care Support Fund established pursuant to Section 14166.21. The total amount of these payments, in combination with the federal share of certified public expenditures for Medicaid inpatient hospital services determined for the project year under subdivision (a) of Section 14166.4, any supplemental reimbursement for physician and nonphysician practitioner services rendered to hospital inpatients determined for the project year under subdivision (e) of Section 14166.4, and the federal disproportionate share hospital allocation determined under Section 14166.6, shall not exceed the hospital’s baseline funding amount or adjusted baseline funding amount, as appropriate.

(2) The department shall establish the amount of the safety net care pool payment described in paragraph (1) for each designated public hospital in a manner that maximizes federal Medicaid funding to the state during the term of the demonstration project.

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(3) A safety net care pool payment amount may be paid to a designated public hospital, or governmental entity with which it is affiliated, pursuant to this section independent of the amount of uncompensated Medi-Cal and uninsured costs that is certified as public expenditures pursuant to Section 14166.8, provided that, in accordance with the Special Terms and Conditions for the demonstration project, the recipient hospital does not return any portion of the funds received to any unit of government, excluding amounts recovered by the state or federal government.

(4) In establishing the amount to be paid to each designated public hospital under this subdivision, the department shall minimize to the extent possible the redistribution of federal funds that are based on certified public expenditures as described in paragraph (3).

(b) (1) Each designated public hospital, or governmental entity with which it is affiliated, shall receive the amount established pursuant to subdivision (a) in quarterly interim payments during the project year. The determination of the interim payments shall be made on an interim basis prior to the start of each project year, except that, with respect to the 2005-06 project year, the determination of the interim payments shall be made prior to January 1, 2006. The department shall use the same cost and statistical data that is used in determining the interim payments for Medi-Cal inpatient hospital services under Section 14166.4 and for the disproportionate share hospital allocations under Section 14166.6, for the corresponding period.

(2) Prior to the distribution of payments in accordance with paragraph (1) and with subdivision (c) to a designated public hospital that is part of a hospital system containing multiple designated public hospitals licensed to the same governmental entity, the department shall consult with the applicable governmental entity. The department shall implement any adjustments to the payment distributions for the hospitals in that hospital system as requested by the governmental entity if the net effect of the requested adjustments for those hospitals is zero. These payment redistributions shall recognize the level of care provided to Medi-Cal and uninsured patients and shall maintain the viability and effectiveness of the hospital system. The adjustments made pursuant to this paragraph with respect to an affected hospital shall be disregarded in the application of the limitations described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), and in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 14166.6.

(c) (1) No later than April 1 following the end of the project year, the department shall undertake an interim reconciliation of the payment amount established pursuant to subdivision (a) for each designated public hospital using Medicare and other cost, payment, and statistical data submitted by the hospital for the project year, and shall adjust payments to the hospital accordingly.

(2) The final payment to a designated public hospital for purposes of subdivision (b) and paragraph (1) of this subdivision, shall be subject to final audits of all applicable Medicare and other cost, payment, and statistical data for the project year, and the distribution priorities set forth in Section 14166.20.

(d) (1) Each designated public hospital, or governmental entity with which it is affiliated, shall be eligible to receive additional safety net care pool payments above the baseline funding amount or adjusted baseline funding amount, as appropriate, from the Health Care Support Fund, established pursuant to Section 14166.21, for the project year through October 31, 2010, in accordance with the stabilization funding determination for the hospital made pursuant to Section 14166.75.

(2) Payment of the additional safety net care pool amounts shall be subject to the distribution priorities set forth in Section 14166.21.

(3) The provisions of this section shall apply only with respect to the demonstration project term, and shall not apply with respect to the successor demonstration project term.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 86, Sec. 9. (AB 1066) Effective July 15, 2011. Conditionally inoperative as provided in Section 14166.26 or in subd. (b) or (g) of Section 14166.2. Repealed on date prescribed in Section 14166.26 or in subd. (b) or (g) of Section 14166.2.)