Medi-Cal: graduate medical education payments.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact details of how the DMPH GME Special Fund will operate are not fully explained in the provided official source material.

Medi-Cal: Graduate Medical Education Payments

This law requires Medi-Cal to make payments to district and municipal public hospitals for their graduate medical education costs, similar to the existing process for designated public hospitals.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Health Care Services to make additional Medi-Cal payments to district and municipal public hospitals (DMPHs) for their graduate medical education (GME) costs.
• These payments will be made in a manner consistent with how GME payments are currently handled for designated public hospitals.
• Establishes the DMPH GME Special Fund, which will receive money from voluntary intergovernmental transfers and continuously fund the department's obligations under this law.
• Requires the Department of Health Care Services to seek federal approval for these new payment methods starting January 1, 2026.

Who It Names or Affects

• District and municipal public hospitals (DMPHs) will receive additional Medi-Cal payments for their graduate medical education costs.
• The State Department of Health Care Services is responsible for making these new payments and seeking necessary federal approvals.

Terms To Know

Graduate Medical Education (GME)

Training programs that doctors complete after medical school to become specialists in a specific area of medicine.

Medi-Cal

A government health insurance program for low-income people and families in California.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not specify how much money will be available for these new payments.
• It is unclear if the federal government will approve all requested changes to payment methods.

Official Summary Text

SB 246, Grove.
Medi-Cal: graduate medical education payments.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.
Existing law requires the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation, to make Medi-Cal payments to designated public hospitals (DPHs) and their affiliated government entities, as defined, in recognition of the Medi-Cal managed care share of graduate medical education (GME) costs. Existing law requires that the payments consist of direct and indirect GME payments made in recognition and support of the direct costs incurred in the operation of GME programs and the increased operating and patient
care costs associated with teaching programs, respectively.
Under existing law, the nonfederal share of these payments consists of voluntary intergovernmental transfers (IGTs) of funds provided by DPHs or their affiliated government entities, or other eligible public entities, as specified. Under existing law, the continuously appropriated DPH GME Special Fund is established for these purposes.
This bill would require the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation, to make additional Medi-Cal payments to district and municipal public hospitals (DMPHs), defined as nondesignated public hospitals, and to their affiliated government entities, in recognition of the Medi-Cal managed care share of GME costs. Under the bill, these payments would be made in a manner consistent with the methodology for GME payments to DPHs and their affiliated government entities
and would consist of the above-described direct and indirect GME payment components. The bill would authorize the department to seek federal approval for other forms of GME payments to DMPHs and their affiliated government entities, as specified.
Under the bill, the nonfederal share of payments under these provisions would consist of voluntary IGTs of funds provided by DMPHs or their affiliated government entities, or other eligible public entities, to the extent permitted under certain federal regulations and other applicable federal Medicaid laws, and with no state General Fund moneys being used to fund the nonfederal share of payments. The bill would establish the DMPH GME Special Fund, with moneys deposited being continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of these provisions.
The bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals for GME payments, effective no sooner than January 1,
2026. The bill would authorize the Director of Health Care Services to modify the requirements set forth in these provisions to the extent necessary to meet federal requirements or to maximize federal financial participation, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF