(a) Administrative hearings of appeals shall be conducted according to the appeal procedures, including pre- and post-hearing procedures, set forth in Article 3 (commencing with Section 1140) of Chapter 2 of Division 2 of Title 1 of the California Code of Regulations. Article 3 (commencing with Section 1140) is hereby incorporated by reference, subject to the following modifications:

(1) Reference to the Health and Welfare Agency or the component department shall be deemed reference to the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board.

(2) Reference to the private nonprofit human service organization shall be deemed reference to the appellant.

(3) Reference to Health and Safety Code sections providing the bases, grounds, authorization, or procedures for appeals shall be deemed reference to the bases and authorization, for appeal found in Section 12693.85 and the appeal procedures found in this section.

(4) The 30-day time period specified in subdivision (b) of Section 1140 of Title 1 of the California Code of Regulations shall be extended to 60 days, and the 10-day time period in subdivision (a) of Section 1141 of Title 1 of the California Code of Regulations shall be extended to 30 days.

(5) If the proposed decision submitted to the board is not adopted as the decision, the board may itself decide the case on the record, or may refer the case to the same hearing officer to take additional evidence. If the case is referred back to the hearing officer, the hearing officer shall prepare a new proposed decision based on the additional evidence and the record of the prior hearing.

(6) The decision of the board shall be issued within 90 days following the initial hearing or, if the case is referred back to the hearing officer, within 90 days of the second hearing.

(b) The board may elect to have a hearing conducted by an Administrative Law Judge employed by the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 623, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1998.)