(a) The Medi-Cal Provider Payment Reserve Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury.

(b) Notwithstanding § 16305.7 of the Government Code, any interest and dividends earned on moneys in the Medi-Cal Provider Payment Reserve Fund shall be retained in the fund and used solely for the purposes specified in this section.

Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 14105.200 v2

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • department: means the State Department of Health Services. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14062
  • director: means the State Director of Health Services. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14061
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Medi-Cal: means the California Medical Assistance Program. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14063

(c) (1) Subject to an appropriation made by the Legislature, the department shall use the funds transferred to the Medi-Cal Provider Payment Reserve Fund pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 14199.82 for purposes of funding targeted increases to Medi-Cal payments or other investments that advance access, quality, and equity for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and promote provider participation in the Medi-Cal program.

(2) The expenditures of funds appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) Increased costs incurred as a result of the reimbursement requirements established in Section 14105.201.

(B) Transfers authorized in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of § 129385 of the Health and Safety Code.

(C) Transfers, or an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to the University of California in the amount of seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000) each calendar year to expand graduate medical education programs, in order to achieve the goal of increasing the number of primary care and specialty care physicians in the state based on demonstrated workforce needs and priorities.

(D) Transfers, or an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund, as established in § 130077 of the Health and Safety Code, in the amount of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) in state fiscal year 2023-24 to support the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Program for seismic assessment and construction.

(E) Effective no sooner than January 1, 2025, increased costs for targeted increases to Medi-Cal payments or other investments pursuant to the plan described in Section 14105.202.

(d) The department shall provide an annual report to all health plans accounting for the funds deposited in, and expended from, the Medi-Cal Provider Payment Reserve Fund, in a time and manner as deemed appropriate by the director.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, the Controller may use the funds in the Medi-Cal Provider Payment Reserve Fund for cashflow loans to the General Fund as provided in Sections 16310 and 16381 of the Government Code.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 42, Sec. 139. (AB 118) Effective July 10, 2023.)