(a) For the purposes of this section:

(1) “Facility” means any long-term health care facility as defined in subdivisions (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Resident” means a person who is a facility resident or patient and a Medi-Cal beneficiary and whose facility care is being paid for in whole or in part by Medi-Cal.

(3) “Agent” means a person who manages, uses, or controls those funds or assets of the resident that legally are required to be used to pay the resident’s share of cost and other charges not paid for by the Medi-Cal program.

(4) “Responsible party” means a person other than the resident or potential resident, who, by virtue of signing or cosigning an admissions agreement of a facility, either together with, or on behalf of, a potential resident, becomes personally responsible or liable for payment of any portion of the charges incurred by the resident while in the facility. A person who signs or cosigns a facility’s admissions agreement by virtue of being an agent under a power of attorney for health care or an attorney-in-fact under a durable power of attorney executed by the potential resident, a conservator of the person or estate of the potential resident, or a representative payee, is not a responsible party under this section, and does not thereby assume personal responsibility or liability for payment of any charges incurred by the resident, except to the extent that the person, or the resident’s conservator or representative payee is an agent as defined in paragraph (3).

(b) No facility may require or solicit, as a condition of admission into the facility, that a Medi-Cal beneficiary have a responsible party sign or cosign the admissions agreement. No facility may accept or receive, as a condition of admission into the facility, the signature or cosignature of a responsible party for a Medi-Cal beneficiary.

(c) A facility may require, as a condition of admission, where a resident has an agent, that the resident’s agent sign or cosign the admissions agreement and agree to distribute to the facility promptly when due, the share of cost and any other charges not paid for by the Medi-Cal program which the resident or his or her agent has agreed to pay. The financial obligation of the agent shall be limited to the amount of the resident’s funds received but not distributed to the facility. A new agent who did not sign or cosign the admissions agreement shall be held responsible to distribute funds in accordance with this section.

(d) When a resident on non-Medi-Cal status converts to Medi-Cal coverage, any security deposit paid to the facility by the resident or on the resident’s behalf as a condition of admission to the facility shall be returned and the obligations and responsibilities of the resident or responsible party during the time period when the resident is covered by Medi-Cal shall be limited to the obligations and responsibilities provided for under the Medi-Cal program. In the event that the resident becomes ineligible for Medi-Cal coverage at any time subsequent to converting to Medi-Cal coverage, the resident and responsible party shall be bound by the terms of the original admission agreement, or any admission agreement in effect at the time the Medi-Cal coverage commenced.

(e) When a resident on non-Medi-Cal status converts to Medi-Cal coverage, the facility shall make a reasonable attempt to assist the resident in contacting the county to obtain an estimate of the resident’s share of cost.

(f) A resident and his or her agent shall pay to the facility the share of cost, for which he or she is responsible under the Medi-Cal program, unless otherwise exempted by law.

(g) If a resident or his or her agent disputes the amount of share of cost owed to a facility, the resident or agent may apply for a state hearing pursuant to Section 10950 for a determination of the amount of share of cost owed to the facility.

(h) Any agent who willfully violates the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed 180 days, or both.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 800, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)