The department shall, to the extent required by federal law, ascertain and enforce compliance with federal and state provisions and regulations adopted pursuant to this section during the period that an applicant who receives federal assistance remains obligated in order to assure the provision of uncompensated services for persons unable to pay for those services.

The department shall adopt regulations, in accordance with applicable federal regulations and Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, for administering federal requirements for uncompensated services for persons unable to pay for those services. The regulations shall include all of the following:

(a)  Identify categories of persons eligible for uncompensated services.

(b)  Define the services that applicants may provide to meet their obligations under this section.

(c)  Require obligated facilities to submit information, data, budgets, and reports, in a form and manner as the department may prescribe, describing the method under which the facility elects to establish the level at which it will provide uncompensated services.

(d)  Permit department approval of requests to provide uncompensated services at a lesser level than prescribed, based on facility’s inability to provide the prescribed level.

(e)  Specify procedures for public hearings to inform the public of levels of uncompensated services to be provided by individual facilities or to resolve disputes and complaints relating to these levels.

(f)  Set forth procedures for publication of notice concerning public hearings and, thereafter, for notices announcing the levels of uncompensated services to be provided by facilities.

(g)  Describe the surveillance program utilized by the department to assure that individual facility’s obligations to provide a determined level of uncompensated services are met.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1996.)