(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 1367.11, a health care service plan contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, shall provide that if an enrollee receives covered services from a noncontracting air ambulance provider, the enrollee shall pay no more than the same cost-sharing amount that the enrollee would pay for the same covered services received from a contracting air ambulance provider. This amount shall be referred to as the “in-network cost-sharing amount.”

(2) An enrollee shall not owe the noncontracting provider more than the in-network cost-sharing amount for services subject to this section. At the time of payment by the plan to the noncontracting provider, the plan shall inform the enrollee and the noncontracting provider of the in-network cost-sharing amount owed by the enrollee.

(b) The following shall apply for purposes of this section:

(1) Any cost sharing paid by the enrollee for the services subject to this section shall count toward the limit on annual out-of-pocket expenses established under Section 1367.006.

(2) Cost sharing arising from services subject to this section shall be counted toward any deductible in the same manner as cost sharing would be attributed to a contracting provider.

(3) The cost sharing paid by the enrollee pursuant to this section shall satisfy the enrollee’s obligation to pay cost sharing for the health service.

(c) A noncontracting provider may advance to collections only the in-network cost-sharing amount, as determined by the plan pursuant to subdivision (a), that the enrollee failed to pay.

(d) A health care service plan or a provider may seek relief in any court for the purpose of resolving a payment dispute. A provider is not prohibited from using a health care service plan’s existing dispute resolution processes.

(e) Air ambulance service providers remain subject to the balance billing protections for Medi-Cal beneficiaries under Section 14019.4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 537, Sec. 2. (AB 651) Effective January 1, 2020.)