(a) Effective January 1, 2023, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, the department shall design and implement a supplemental payment program for emergency medical air transportation services to increase the Medi-Cal reimbursement in an amount not to exceed normal and customary charges charged by qualified emergency medical air transportation providers.

(b) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this section, in whole or in part, and any applicable federal waivers and state plan amendments by means of plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions without taking any further regulatory action.

Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 14124.15

  • 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
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
  • Medi-Cal: means the California Medical Assistance Program. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14063

(c) In implementing this section, the department shall seek any federal approvals it deems necessary. This section shall be implemented only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is available and is not otherwise jeopardized.

(d) This section shall become inoperative if any of the following occurs:

(1) The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denies approval for the implementation of this section.

(2) The Legislature fails to appropriate moneys for the program in the annual Budget Act, or fails to appropriate such moneys in a separate bill enacted within 30 days following enactment of the annual Budget Act.

(3) A lawsuit related to this section is filed against the state and a preliminary injunction or other order has been issued that results in a financial disadvantage to the state, including, but not limited to, a loss of federal financial participation.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 476, Sec. 3. (AB 1104) Effective October 4, 2021. Conditionally inoperative as prescribed by its own provisions.)

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