This week, Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 on Health and Human Services adopted trailer bill language to extend the sunset date of the hospital Quality Assurance Fee (QAF) to January 1, 2018.  The existing QAF is estimated to provide approximately $800 million annually in General Fund savings, and sunsets on January 1, 2017. 

The QAF was created in 2009 requiring certain California hospitals to pay a fee to help the State draw-down available federal Medicaid funds.  Since its inception, the fee has generated nearly $2 billion annually in additional federal funding payments to California hospitals. 

In March, the RCRC Board of Directors adopted a support position on the Medi-Cal Funding and Accountability Act which would address a number of issues with the QAF and help to preserve funding for a variety of healthcare services, including services provided in rural areas.  As of now, the Assembly has not heard or taken action on the QAF.