(a) Any person receiving health care for which he or she was not eligible on the basis of false declarations as to his or her eligibility or any person making false declarations as to eligibility on behalf of any other person receiving health care for which that other person was not eligible shall be liable for repayment and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or felony depending on the amount paid on his or her behalf for which he or she was not eligible, as specified in Section 487 of the Penal Code.
(b) (1) Any person who willfully and knowingly counsels or encourages any individual to make false statements or otherwise causes false statements to be made on an application, in order to receive health care services to which the applicant is not entitled, shall be liable to the Medi-Cal program for damages incurred for the cost of services rendered to the applicant.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall be implemented to the extent permitted by federal law and to the extent that implementation of paragraph (1) does not affect the availability of federal financial participation.
(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 837, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1997.)