(a) The department shall acquire and develop an automated system for providing reimbursements to nursing facilities under the state Medicaid program, subject to the availability of funds appropriated for that purpose.
(b) The department shall select an automated system that will allow the addition of other components of the state Medicaid program, including components administered by other state agencies.

(c) The department and the commission shall work together to apply for all available federal funds to help pay for the automated system.
(d) To the extent possible, the department shall assist nursing facilities to make systems compatible with the automated system selected by the department.
(e) The department shall charge a fee to nursing facilities that do not receive their Medicaid reimbursements electronically. The executive commissioner by rule shall set the fee in an amount necessary to cover the costs of manually processing and sending the reimbursements.