CALIFORNIA CODES HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 1797.98a-1797.98g 1797.98a. (a) The fund provided for in this chapter shall be known as the Maddy Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund. (b) (1) Each county may establish an emergency medical services fund, upon adoption of a resolution by the board of supervisors. The moneys in the fund shall be available for the reimbursements required by this chapter. The fund shall be administered by each county, except that a county electing to have the state administer its medically indigent services program may also elect to have its emergency medical services fund administered by the state. (2) Costs of administering the fund shall be reimbursed by the fund, up to 10 percent of the amount of the fund. (3) All interest earned on moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the fund for disbursement as specified in this section. (4) Each administering agency may maintain a reserve of up to 15 percent of the amount in the portions of the fund reimbursable to physicians and surgeons, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of, and to hospitals, pursuant to subparagraph (B) of, paragraph (5). Each administering agency may maintain a reserve of any amount in the portion of the fund that is distributed for other emergency medical services purposes as determined by each county, pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (5). (5) The amount in the fund, reduced by the amount for administration and the reserve, shall be utilized to reimburse physicians and surgeons and hospitals for patients who do not make payment for emergency medical services and for other emergency medical services purposes as determined by each county according to the following schedule: (A) Fifty-eight percent of the balance of the fund shall be distributed to physicians and surgeons for emergency services provided by all physicians and surgeons, except those physicians and surgeons employed by county hospitals, in general acute care hospitals that provide basic or comprehensive emergency services up to the time the patient is stabilized. (B) Twenty-five percent of the fund shall be distributed only to hospitals providing disproportionate trauma and emergency medical care services. (C) Seventeen percent of the fund shall be distributed for other emergency medical services purposes as determined by each county, including, but not limited to, the funding of regional poison control centers. Funding may be used for purchasing equipment and for capital projects only to the extent that these expenditures support the provision of emergency services and are consistent with the intent of this chapter. (c) The source of the moneys in the fund shall be the penalty assessment made for this purpose, as provided in Section 76000 of the Government Code. (d) Any physician and surgeon may be reimbursed for up to 50 percent of the amount claimed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1797.98c for the initial cycle of reimbursements made by the administering agency in a given year, pursuant to Section 1797.98e. All funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year in excess of any reserve held and rolled over to the next year pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) shall be distributed proportionally, based on the dollar amount of claims submitted and paid to all physicians and surgeons who submitted qualifying claims during that year. 1797.98b. (a) Each county establishing a fund, on January 1, 1989, and on each April 15 thereafter, shall report to the Legislature on the implementation and status of the Emergency Medical Services Fund. The report shall cover the preceding fiscal year, and shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following: (1) The total amount of fines and forfeitures collected, the total amount of penalty assessments collected, and the total amount of penalty assessments deposited into the Emergency Medical Services Fund. (2) The fund balance and the amount of moneys disbursed under the program to physicians and surgeons, for hospitals, and for other emergency medical services purposes. (3) The number of claims paid to physicians and surgeons, and the percentage of claims paid, based on the uniform fee schedule, as adopted by the county. (4) The amount of moneys available to be disbursed to physicians and surgeons, descriptions of the physician and surgeon and hospital claims payment methodologies, the dollar amount of the total allowable claims submitted, and the percentage at which those claims were reimbursed. (5) A statement of the policies, procedures, and regulatory action taken to implement and run the program under this chapter. (6) The name of the physician and surgeon and hospital administrator organization, or names of specific physicians and surgeons and hospital administrators, contracted to review claims payment methodologies. (b) (1) Each county, upon request, shall make available to any member of the public the report required under subdivision (a). (2) Each county, upon request, shall make available to any member of the public a listing of physicians and surgeons and hospitals that have received reimbursement from the Emergency Medical Services Fund and the amount of the reimbursement they have received. This listing shall be compiled on a semiannual basis. 1797.98c. (a) Physicians and surgeons wishing to be reimbursed shall submit their claims for emergency services provided to patients who do not make any payment for services and for whom no responsible third party makes any payment. (b) If, after receiving payment from the fund, a physician and surgeon is reimbursed by a patient or a responsible third party, the physician and surgeon shall do one of the following: (1) Notify the administering agency, and, after notification, the administering agency shall reduce the physician and surgeon's future payment of claims from the fund. In the event there is not a subsequent submission of a claim for reimbursement within one year, the physician and surgeon shall reimburse the fund in an amount equal to the amount collected from the patient or third-party payer, but not more than the amount of reimbursement received from the fund. (2) Notify the administering agency of the payment and reimburse the fund in an amount equal to the amount collected from the patient or third-party payer, but not more than the amount of the reimbursement received from the fund for that patient's care. (c) Reimbursement of claims for emergency services provided to patients by any physician and surgeon shall be limited to services provided to a patient who cannot afford to pay for those services, and for whom payment will not be made through any private coverage or by any program funded in whole or in part by the federal government, and where all of the following conditions have been met: (1) The physician and surgeon has inquired if there is a responsible third-party source of payment. (2) The physician and surgeon has billed for payment of services. (3) Either of the following: (A) At least three months have passed from the date the physician and surgeon billed the patient or responsible third party, during which time the physician and surgeon has made two attempts to obtain reimbursement and has not received reimbursement for any portion of the amount billed. (B) The physician and surgeon has received actual notification from the patient or responsible third party that no payment will be made for the services rendered by the physician and surgeon. (4) The physician and surgeon has stopped any current, and waives any future, collection efforts to obtain reimbursement from the patient, upon receipt of moneys from the fund. (d) A listing of patient names shall accompany a physician and surgeon's submission, and those names shall be given full confidentiality protections by the administering agency. (e) Notwithstanding any other restriction on reimbursement, a county shall adopt a fee schedule and reimbursement methodology to establish a uniform reasonable level of reimbursement from the county' s emergency medical services fund for reimbursable services. (f) For the purposes of submission and reimbursement of physician and surgeon claims, the administering agency shall adopt and use the current version of the Physicians' Current Procedural Terminology, published by the American Medical Association, or a similar procedural terminology reference. (g) Each administering agency of a fund under this chapter shall make all reasonable efforts to notify physicians and surgeons who provide, or are likely to provide, emergency services in the county as to the availability of the fund and the process by which to submit a claim against the fund. The administering agency may satisfy this requirement by sending materials that provide information about the fund and the process to submit a claim against the fund to local medical societies, hospitals, emergency rooms, or other organizations, including materials that are prepared to be posted in visible locations. 1797.98e. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that a simplified, cost-efficient system of administration of this chapter be developed so that the maximum amount of funds may be utilized to reimburse physicians and surgeons and for other emergency medical services purposes. The administering agency shall select an administering officer and shall establish procedures and time schedules for the submission and processing of proposed reimbursement requests submitted by physicians and surgeons. The schedule shall provide for disbursements of moneys in the Emergency Medical Services Fund on at least a quarterly basis to applicants who have submitted accurate and complete data for payment. When the administering agency determines that claims for payment for physician and surgeon services are of sufficient numbers and amounts that, if paid, the claims would exceed the total amount of funds available for payment, the administering agency shall fairly prorate, without preference, payments to each claimant at a level less than the maximum payment level. Each administering agency may encumber sufficient funds during one fiscal year to reimburse claimants for losses incurred during that fiscal year for which claims will not be received until after the fiscal year. The administering agency may, as necessary, request records and documentation to support the amounts of reimbursement requested by physicians and surgeons and the administering agency may review and audit the records for accuracy. Reimbursements requested and reimbursements made that are not supported by records may be denied to, and recouped from, physicians and surgeons. Physicians and surgeons found to submit requests for reimbursement that are inaccurate or unsupported by records may be excluded from submitting future requests for reimbursement. The administering officer shall not give preferential treatment to any facility, physician and surgeon, or category of physician and surgeon and shall not engage in practices that constitute a conflict of interest by favoring a facility or physician and surgeon with which the administering officer has an operational or financial relationship. A hospital administrator of a hospital owned or operated by a county of a population of 250,000 or more as of January 1, 1991, or a person under the direct supervision of that person, shall not be the administering officer. The board of supervisors of a county or any other county agency may serve as the administering officer. The administering officer shall solicit input from physicians and surgeons and hospitals to review payment distribution methodologies to ensure fair and timely payments. This requirement may be fulfilled through the establishment of an advisory committee with representatives comprised of local physicians and surgeons and hospital administrators. In order to reduce the county's administrative burden, the administering officer may instead request an existing board, commission, or local medical society, or physicians and surgeons and hospital administrators, representative of the local community, to provide input and make recommendations on payment distribution methodologies. (b) Each provider of health services that receives payment under this chapter shall keep and maintain records of the services rendered, the person to whom rendered, the date, and any additional information the administering agency may, by regulation, require, for a period of three years from the date the service was provided. The administering agency shall not require any additional information from a physician and surgeon providing emergency medical services that is not available in the patient record maintained by the entity listed in subdivision (f) where the medical services are provided, nor shall the administering agency require a physician and surgeon to make eligibility determinations. (c) During normal working hours, the administering agency may make any inspection and examination of a hospital's or physician and surgeon's books and records needed to carry out the provisions of this chapter. A provider who has knowingly submitted a false request for reimbursement shall be guilty of civil fraud. (d) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a physician and surgeon from utilizing an agent who furnishes billing and collection services to the physician and surgeon to submit claims or receive payment for claims. (e) All payments from the fund pursuant to Section 1797.98c to physicians and surgeons shall be limited to physicians and surgeons who, in person, provide onsite services in a clinical setting, including, but not limited to, radiology and pathology settings. (f) All payments from the fund shall be limited to claims for care rendered by physicians and surgeons to patients who are initially medically screened, evaluated, treated, or stabilized in any of the following: (1) A basic or comprehensive emergency department of a licensed general acute care hospital. (2) A site that was approved by a county prior to January 1, 1990, as a paramedic receiving station for the treatment of emergency patients. (3) A standby emergency department that was in existence on January 1, 1989, in a hospital specified in Section 124840. (4) For the 1991-92 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, a facility which contracted prior to January 1, 1990, with the National Park Service to provide emergency medical services. (g) Payments shall be made only for emergency services provided on the calendar day on which emergency medical services are first provided and on the immediately following two calendar days, however, payments may not be made for services provided beyond a 48-hour period of continuous service to the patient. (h) Notwithstanding subdivision (g), if it is necessary to transfer the patient to a second facility providing a higher level of care for the treatment of the emergency condition, reimbursement shall be available for services provided at the facility to which the patient was transferred on the calendar day of transfer and on the immediately following two calendar days, however, payments may not be made for services provided beyond a 48-hour period of continuous service to the patient. (i) Payment shall be made for medical screening examinations required by law to determine whether an emergency condition exists, notwithstanding the determination after the examination that a medical emergency does not exist. Payment shall not be denied solely because a patient was not admitted to an acute care facility. Payment shall be made for services to an inpatient only when the inpatient has been admitted to a hospital from an entity specified in subdivision (f). (j) The administering agency shall compile a quarterly and yearend summary of reimbursements paid to facilities and physicians and surgeons. The summary shall include, but shall not be limited to, the total number of claims submitted by physicians and surgeons in aggregate from each facility and the amount paid to each physician and surgeon. The administering agency shall provide copies of the summary and forms and instructions relating to making claims for reimbursement to the public, and may charge a fee not to exceed the reasonable costs of duplication. (k) Each county shall establish an equitable and efficient mechanism for resolving disputes relating to claims for reimbursements from the fund. The mechanism shall include a requirement that disputes be submitted either to binding arbitration conducted pursuant to arbitration procedures set forth in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1282) and Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1285) of Part 3 of Title 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or to a local medical society for resolution by neutral parties. 1797.98f. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an emergency physician and surgeon, or an emergency physician group, with a gross billings arrangement with a hospital shall be entitled to receive reimbursement from the Emergency Medical Services Fund for services provided in that hospital, if all of the following conditions are met: (a) The services are provided in a basic or comprehensive general acute care hospital emergency department, or in a standby emergency department in a small and rural hospital as defined in Section 124840. (b) The physician and surgeon is not an employee of the hospital. (c) All provisions of Section 1797.98c are satisfied, except that payment to the emergency physician and surgeon, or an emergency physician group, by a hospital pursuant to a gross billings arrangement shall not be interpreted to mean that payment for a patient is made by a responsible third party. (d) Reimbursement from the Emergency Medical Services Fund is sought by the hospital or the hospital's designee, as the billing and collection agent for the emergency physician and surgeon, or an emergency physician group. For purposes of this section, a "gross billings arrangement" is an arrangement whereby a hospital serves as the billing and collection agent for the emergency physician and surgeon, or an emergency physician group, and pays the emergency physician and surgeon, or emergency physician group, a percentage of the emergency physician and surgeon's or group's gross billings for all patients. 1797.98g. The moneys contained in an Emergency Medical Services Fund, other than moneys contained in a Physician Services Account within the fund pursuant to Section 16952 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall not be subject to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 16951) of Chapter 5 of Part 4.7 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.