(a)  A hospital which has a legal obligation, whether imposed by statute or by contract, to the extent of that contractual obligation, to any third-party payor, including, but not limited to, a health maintenance organization, health care service plan, nonprofit hospital service plan, insurer, or preferred provider organization, a county, or an employer to provide care for a patient under the circumstances specified in Section 1317.2 shall receive that patient to the extent required by the applicable statute or by the terms of the contract, or, when the hospital is unable to accept a patient for whom it has a legal obligation to provide care whose transfer will not create a medical hazard as specified in Section 1317.2, it shall make appropriate arrangements for the patient’s care.

(b)  A county hospital shall accept a patient whose transfer will not create a medical hazard as specified in Section 1317.2 and who is determined by the county to be eligible to receive health care services required under Part 5 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, unless the hospital does not have appropriate bed capacity, medical personnel, or equipment required to provide care to the patient in accordance with accepted medical practice. When a county hospital is unable to accept a patient whose transfer will not create a medical hazard as specified in Section 1317.2, it shall make appropriate arrangements for the patient’s care. The obligation to make appropriate arrangements as set forth in this subdivision does not mandate a level of service or payment, modify the county’s obligations under Part 5 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, create a cause of action, or limit a county’s flexibility to manage county health systems within available resources. However, the county’s flexibility shall not diminish a county’s responsibilities under Part 5 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or the requirements contained in Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1440).

(c)  The receiving hospital shall provide personnel and equipment reasonably required in the exercise of good medical practice for the care of the transferred patient.

(d)  Any third-party payor, including, but not limited to, a health maintenance organization, health care service plan, nonprofit hospital service plan, insurer, or preferred provider organization, or employer which has a statutory or contractual obligation to provide or indemnify emergency medical services on behalf of a patient shall be liable, to the extent of the contractual obligation to the patient, for the reasonable charges of the transferring hospital and the treating physicians for the emergency services provided pursuant to this article, except that the patient shall be responsible for uncovered services, or any deductible or copayment obligation. Notwithstanding this section, the liability of a third-party payor which has contracted with health care providers for the provision of these emergency services shall be set by the terms of that contract. Notwithstanding this section, the liability of a third-party payor that is licensed by the Insurance Commissioner or the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care and has a contractual obligation to provide or indemnify emergency medical services under a contract which covers a subscriber or an enrollee shall be determined in accordance with the terms of that contract and shall remain under the sole jurisdiction of that licensing agency.

(e)  A hospital which has a legal obligation to provide care for a patient as specified by subdivision (a) of Section 1317.2a to the extent of its legal obligation, imposed by statute or by contract to the extent of that contractual obligation, which does not accept transfers of, or make other appropriate arrangements for, medically stable patients in violation of this article or regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall be liable for the reasonable charges of the transferring hospital and treating physicians for providing services and care which should have been provided by the receiving hospital.

(f)  Subdivisions (d) and (e) do not apply to county obligations under Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(g)  Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a hospital to make arrangements for the care of a patient for whom the hospital does not have a legal obligation to provide care.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 857, Sec. 17. Effective January 1, 2001.)