Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit a hospital from uniformly imposing charges from its established charge schedule or published rates, nor shall this article preclude the recognition of a hospital’s established charge schedule or published rates for purposes of applying any payment limit, interim payment amount, or other payment calculation based upon a hospital’s rates or charges under the Medi-Cal program, the Medicare Program, workers’ compensation, or other federal, state, or local public program of health benefits. No health care service plan, insurer, or any other person shall reduce the amount it would otherwise reimburse a claim for hospital services because a hospital has waived, or will waive, collection of all or a portion of a patient’s bill for hospital services in accordance with the hospital’s charity care or discount payment policy, notwithstanding any contractual provision.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 347, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2008.)