A. There is hereby established the Care for Evacuated Patients Program, to be administered by the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, hereinafter referred to as the “secretary”. In the event that a state of emergency is declared by the governing authority of the political subdivision in which a public hospital is located, and such emergency necessitates the evacuation of patients from the state hospital, the provision of medical care by a nonstate hospital to patients of the state hospital who are admitted to the nonstate hospital as a direct result of the evacuation shall be eligible for reimbursement by the state as provided in this Section with the payment of such reimbursements being contingent upon the appropriation of funds therefor.

            B.(1) Medically necessary services rendered to medically indigent patients, or those insured by Medicaid, from the date of the admission necessitated by evacuation of the patient from a state hospital through the sixtieth day of such admission shall be eligible for payment by the state. For patients who are medically indigent, the state shall pay on a per service basis an amount not to exceed the Medicare DRG rate for each such service. For patients who are insured by Medicaid, the state shall pay on a per service basis the difference between the Medicaid rate and the Medicare DRG rate for each such service.

            (2) Within one hundred twenty days of the declaration of the emergency, each hospital seeking reimbursement for services to be paid pursuant to this Section shall submit to the secretary a detailed statement of the costs of services rendered for which they seek reimbursement. The secretary shall, within one hundred eighty days of the declaration of the emergency, submit to the Interim Emergency Board a request for funding the payment of the total amounts owed to hospitals which have submitted statements for reimbursement. Monies appropriated through the Interim Emergency Board shall be distributed to the recipient hospitals within fifteen days after promulgation of the ballot authorizing the payments to the hospitals. In the event that monies appropriated are not sufficient to fully fund the total amounts owed, the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health is authorized to apply a pro rata reduction to the amount paid to each hospital.

            (3) The secretary is authorized to provide through rulemaking any additional requirements he deems appropriate and necessary to carry out the provisions of this Section.

            Acts 2006, No. 410, §2, eff. June 15, 2006.