California Welfare And Institutions Code Section 14126.033

(a) This article, including Section 14126.031, shall be funded as follows: (1) General Fund moneys appropriated for purposes of this article pursuant to Section 6 of the act adding this section shall be used for increasing rates, except as provided in Section 14126.031, for freestanding skilled nursing facilities, and shall be consistent with the approved methodology required to be submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pursuant to Article 7.6 (commencing with Section 1324.20) of Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code. (2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14126.023, for the 2005-06 rate year, the maximum annual increase in the weighted average Medi-Cal rate required for purposes of this article shall not exceed 8 percent of the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate for the 2004-05 rate year as adjusted for the change in the cost to the facility to comply with the nursing facility quality assurance fee for the 2005-06 rate year, as required under subdivision (b) of Section 1324.21 of the Health and Safety Code, plus the total projected Medi-Cal cost to the facility of complying with new state or federal mandates. (B) Beginning with the 2006-07 rate year, the maximum annual increase in the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate required for purposes of this article shall not exceed 5 percent of the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted for the projected cost of complying with new state or federal mandates. (C) Beginning with the 2007-08 rate year and continuing through the 2008-09 rate year, the maximum annual increase in the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate required for purposes of this article shall not exceed 5.5 percent of the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted for the projected cost of complying with new state or federal mandates. (D) For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 rate years, the maximum annual increase in the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate required for purposes of this article shall not exceed 5 percent of the weighted average Medi-Cal reimbursement rate for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted for the projected cost of complying with new state or federal mandates. (E) To the extent that new rates are projected to exceed the adjusted limits calculated pursuant to subparagraph (A) to (D), inclusive, as applicable, the department shall adjust the increase to each skilled nursing facility`s projected rate for the applicable rate year by an equal percentage. (b) The rate methodology shall cease to be implemented on and after July 31, 2011. (c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the implementation of this article result in individual access to appropriate long-term care services, quality resident care, decent wages and benefits for nursing home workers, a stable workforce, provider compliance with all applicable state and federal requirements, and administrative efficiency. (2) Not later than December 1, 2006, the Bureau of State Audits shall conduct an accountability evaluation of the department`s progress toward implementing a facility-specific reimbursement system, including a review of data to ensure that the new system is appropriately reimbursing facilities within specified cost categories and a review of the fiscal impact of the new system on the General Fund. (3) Not later than January 1, 2007, to the extent information is available for the three years immediately preceding the implementation of this article, the department shall provide baseline information in a report to the Legislature on all of the following: (A) The number and percent of freestanding skilled nursing facilities that complied with minimum staffing requirements. (B) The staffing levels prior to the implementation of this article. (C) The staffing retention rates prior to the implementation of this article. (D) The numbers and percentage of freestanding skilled nursing facilities with findings of immediate jeopardy, substandard quality of care, or actual harm, as determined by the certification survey of each freestanding skilled nursing facility conducted prior to the implementation of this article. (E) The number of freestanding skilled nursing facilities that received state citations and the number and class of citations issued during calendar year 2004. (F) The average wage and benefits for employees prior to the implementation of this article. (4) Not later than January 1, 2009, the department shall provide a report to the Legislature that does both of the following: (A) Compares the information required in paragraph (2) to that same information two years after the implementation of this article. (B) Reports on the extent to which residents who had expressed a preference to return to the community, as provided in Section 1418.81 of the Health and Safety Code, were able to return to the community. (5) The department may contract for the reports required under this subdivision. (d) This section shall become inoperative on July 31, 2011, and as of January 1, 2012, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.