31-8-179.3. Segregated account for provider payments; use of funds; records; penalty for nonpayment.

Any provider payments assessed pursuant to this article shall be deposited into a segregated account for each payment program within the Indigent Care Trust Fund created pursuant to Code Section 31-8-152. No other funds shall be deposited into any such segregated account or accounts. All funds in any such segregated account or accounts shall be invested in the same manner as authorized for investing other moneys in the state treasury. Any funds deposited into a segregated account pursuant to this article shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.#

Any provider payments assessed pursuant to this article shall be dedicated and used for the sole purpose of obtaining federal financial participation for medical assistance payments to providers on behalf of Medicaid recipients pursuant to Article 7 of Chapter 4 of Title 49.#

Each hospital shall keep and preserve for a period of seven years such books and records as may be necessary to determine the amount for which it is liable under this article. The department shall have the authority to inspect and copy the records of a hospital for purposes of auditing the calculation of the provider payment. All information obtained by the department pursuant to this article shall be confidential and shall not constitute a public record.#

The department shall be authorized to impose a penalty of up to 6 percent for any hospital that fails to pay a provider payment within the time required by the department for each month or fraction thereof that the provider payment is overdue. If a required provider payment has not been received by the department in accordance with department timelines, the department shall withhold an amount equal to the provider payment and penalty owed from any medical assistance payment due such hospital under the Medicaid program. Any provider payment assessed pursuant to this article shall constitute a debt due the state and may be collected by civil action and the filing of tax liens in addition to such methods provided for in this article. Any penalty that accrues pursuant to this subsection shall be credited to the applicable segregated account.#