(a) Notwithstanding any other law and without regard to fiscal year, if the annual State Budget is not enacted by June 30 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year to which the budget would apply or there is a deficiency in the Medi-Cal budget during a fiscal year, all of the following shall occur:

(1) The Controller shall annually transfer from the General Fund, upon order of the Department of Finance, in the form of one or more loans, an amount not to exceed a cumulative total of 10 percent of the amount appropriated from the General Fund for Medi-Cal benefit costs in the Budget Act of the most recent fiscal year, to the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340, the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund is hereby continuously appropriated for the purpose of making payments to Medi-Cal providers, providers of services under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 120950) of Part 4 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, and providers of services under Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, on or after July 1 of the fiscal year for which no budget has been enacted and before September 1 of that year or for the purpose of making payments to Medi-Cal providers, providers of services under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 120950) of Part 4 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, and providers of services under Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, during the period in which the Medi-Cal program has a deficiency. Payments shall be made pursuant to this subdivision if both of the following conditions have been met:

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(A) An invoice has been submitted for the services.

(B) Payment for the services is due and payable and the State Department of Health Care Services determines that payment would be valid.

(2) For any fiscal year to which this subdivision applies, there is hereby appropriated an amount not to exceed 6 percent of the amount appropriated from the Federal Trust Fund for Medi-Cal benefit costs in the annual Budget Act of the most recent fiscal year, from the Federal Trust Fund to the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund.

(3) The Department of Finance shall notify the Legislature within 10 days of authorizing a transfer. The 10-day notification to the Legislature shall include the amount of the transfer, the reasons for the transfer, and the fiscal assumptions used to calculate the transfer amount.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, including § 14159 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the amount of a loan made pursuant to subdivision (a) and for which moneys were expended from the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund shall be repaid either in the same fiscal year in which it was made or in the subsequent fiscal year, as determined by the State Department of Health Care Services in consultation with the Department of Finance. The loan shall be repaid by debiting the appropriate Budget Act item or by using the proceeds of a supplemental appropriations bill, as determined by the State Department of Health Care Services in consultation with the Department of Finance.

(c) Within 30 days of the enactment of the annual Budget Act or a supplemental appropriations bill in a fiscal year to which subdivision (a) applies, the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with the Department of Finance, shall inform the Controller of its determination pursuant to subdivision (b) and shall designate the fiscal year and item of the Budget Act to which any expenditures and unexpended funds in the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund shall be transferred.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 42, Sec. 3. (AB 118) Effective July 10, 2023.)