Bill > SB6103

This bill makes payments for services provided by a rural emergency hospital, a new designation from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), subject to appropriation, meaning these payments will only be made if the legislature allocates specific funds for them. This change applies to recipients eligible for medical assistance programs and is independent of whether the patient is enrolled in a managed care plan. The bill amends existing law concerning payments to hospitals, including those designated as critical access hospitals or sole community hospitals, and introduces a pilot program for alternative payment methodologies in rural areas, but the core change here is to ensure that funding for rural emergency hospitals is explicitly approved by the legislature.