(a) In order to ensure that the proceeds of the quality assurance fee, the matching amount provided by the federal government, and any interest earned on those proceeds are used to supplement existing funding for hospital services provided to Medi-Cal patients and not supplant such funding, the aggregate fee-for-service payments under the Medi-Cal program to hospitals for hospital services furnished on and after January 1, 2014, for each fiscal year or portion thereof that is in a program period shall not be less than the aggregate amounts that would have been paid for those services under the rates and payment methodologies in effect on December 31, 2013. This provision shall be applied separately for each category of hospital services.

(b) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Aggregate amounts” means payments that would have been made on a fee-for-service basis to a hospital under Medi-Cal where the nonfederal share of the payments would have been appropriated from state general funds with the exception of disproportionate share replacement payments made under Section 14166.11. Aggregate amounts do not include payments made pursuant to Article 5.228 (commencing with Section 14169.1).

(2) “Aggregate fee-for-service payments” means all payments made on a fee-for-service basis to a hospital under Medi-Cal where the nonfederal share of the payments were appropriated from state general funds with the exception of disproportionate share replacement payments made under Section 14166.11. Aggregate fee-for-service payments do not include payments made under this article.

(3) “Hospital services” means all services covered under Medi-Cal furnished by a hospital, including, but not limited to, hospital inpatient services, hospital outpatient services, skilled nursing facility services furnished by a hospital, and subacute services furnished by a hospital.

(c) Disproportionate share replacement payments to private hospitals shall be not less than the amount determined pursuant to Section 14166.11. For purposes of this subdivision, references to Section 14166.11 are to the version of Section 14166.11 in effect on the effective date of this article.

(d) This section shall be implemented only to the extent it does not violate federal law and only to the extent available federal financial participation is not jeopardized.

(e) This section shall not require a rate or level of funding to be maintained where federal financial participation for the rate or level of funding has been reduced or eliminated by federal law.

(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 657, Sec. 6. (SB 239) Effective October 8, 2013. Inoperative on date prescribed in Section 14169.72. Repealed on January 1 after inoperative date, pursuant to Section 14169.76. Note: See Section 3.5 of Article XVI of the Constitution, which was added on Nov. 8, 2016, by initiative Proposition 52.)