A. The "safety net care pool fund" is created in the state treasury. The safety net care pool fund, which shall be administered by the department, shall consist of public funds provided through intergovernmental transfers from counties or other public entities and transferred from counties pursuant to Section 16 of this 2014 act [27-5-6.2 NMSA 1978]. Money in the fund shall be invested by the state treasurer as other state funds are invested. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert.

B. Money in the safety net care pool fund is appropriated to the department to make payments to qualifying hospitals. No safety net care pool fund payments or money in the safety net care pool fund shall be used to supplant any general fund support for the state medicaid program.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 321, § 18; 2012, ch. 18, § 2; 2014, ch. 79, § 8.

The 2014 amendment, effective March 12, 2014, replaced the sole community provider fund with the safety net care pool fund; in the catchline, deleted "Sole community provider" and added "Safety net care pool"; in Subsection A, in the first sentence, after "The", deleted "sole community provider" and added "safety net care pool", in the second sentence, after "The", deleted "sole community provider" and added "safety net care pool", after "shall consist of", added "public", after "funds provided", deleted "by counties", and after "or other public funds or expenditures determined by the department and the federal government as allowable to match federal funds for medicaid sole community provider hospital payments" and added "and transferred from counties pursuant to Section 16 of this 2014 act"; in Subsection B, in the first sentence, after "Money in the", deleted the "sole community provider" and added "safety net care pool", and after "department to make", deleted "sole community provider hospital", after "department to make payments", deleted "pursuant to the state medicaid program" and added "to qualifying hospitals", and in the second sentence, after "No", deleted "sole community provider hospital" and added "safety net care pool fund", and after "money in the", deleted "sole community provider" and added "safety net pool"; and deleted former Subsection C, which provided for the return of money in the sole community provider fund if federal medicaid matching funds were not received for medicaid sole community provider hospital payments.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2014, ch. 79, § 19, provided that on March 12, 2014, all money in the sole community provider fund shall be transferred to the safety net care pool fund and all money in a county's indigent hospital claims fund shall be transferred to the county's health care assistance fund.

Laws 2014, ch. 79, § 21, provided that the human services department seek funds to fully fund the safety net care pool fund.

The 2012 amendment, effective March 1, 2012, provided for funds that may be counted in the county contribution for support of sole community provider payments; in Subsection A, in the second sentence added "sole community provider"; changed "human services department" to "department"; and after "funds provided by counties", added "through intergovernmental transfers from counties, other public entities or other public funds or expenditures determined by the department and the federal government as allowable"; and in Subsection B, changed "human services department" to "department".