(a) A noncontract hospital that is in a closed health facility planning area is not eligible to receive reimbursement for services provided to a Medi-Cal beneficiary, unless either of the following apply:

(1) The noncontract hospital provides necessary emergency services to a Medi-Cal beneficiary who is in a life threatening or emergency situation, but cannot be sufficiently stabilized in order to facilitate transport to a contracting hospital.

(2) The noncontract hospital is a facility location of a nonprofit hospital that is an affiliate of a nonprofit health care service plan, the facility location is approved in accordance with the standards of the California Children’s Services (CCS) program, and the hospital is providing medically necessary services for treatment of the CCS-eligible condition of a patient when all of the following apply:

(A) The patient is eligible for services under the California Children’s Services Act (Article 5 (commencing with Section 123800) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code) as well as the Medi-Cal program.

(B) The patient is a member of the health care services plan for other health care services not related to the CCS condition.

(C) The services for treatment of the CCS-eligible patient are authorized by the CCS program.

(b) A noncontract hospital in a closed health facility planning area that provides necessary emergency services to a Medi-Cal beneficiary who is in a life threatening or emergency situation, but cannot be sufficiently stabilized in order to facilitate transport to a contracting hospital, may only be reimbursed for those necessary emergency services when it obtains an approved treatment authorization request.

(c) Any treatment authorization request submitted for any service classified as a necessary emergency service, which would have been subject to prior authorization had it not been so classified, shall be supported by the attending physician’s statement that does all of the following:

(1) Describes in detail the nature of the emergency or life threatening situation, including relevant clinical information about the patient’s condition.

(2) States why the patient could not be sufficiently stabilized for transport to a contracting hospital and why the necessary emergency services rendered were considered to be immediately required. A mere statement that an emergency existed is not sufficient. The treatment authorization request shall be comprehensive enough to support a finding that an emergency or a life threatening situation existed.

(3) Contains the signature of the attending physician who had direct knowledge of the emergency described in the statement.

(d) For the purposes of this section, “necessary emergency services” are limited to those health services medically necessary for alleviation of severe pain or immediate diagnosis and treatment of unforeseen medical conditions which, if not immediately diagnosed and treated, could lead to significant disability or death.

(e) For the purposes of this section, a “noncontract hospital” means a hospital that has not contracted with the department pursuant to Article 2.6 (commencing with Section 14081) for the provision of inpatient services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting reimbursement for medically necessary care following stabilization, in the event that a contract hospital does not accept transfer of the patient or pending the transfer to a contract hospital.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 418, Sec. 1. Effective October 10, 2007.)