(a) Notwithstanding Section 14105, and any other provision of law, the director may, without taking regulatory action pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, take one or both of the following actions:
(1) Establish the reimbursement rates necessitated by the establishment of updated coding systems required for compliance by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
(2) Adopt and annually update the federal Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes (formerly known as the United States Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System HCPCS) or any other coding system required for compliance with this chapter, federal medicaid requirements, or the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
(b) The director may take the actions described in subdivision (a) by means of publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register, the Medi-Cal Provider Manual, or similar publications.
(c) The publication of reimbursement rates or coding systems pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include an effective date for the published rates or coding systems.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the department’s compliance with federal medicaid law or regulations relating to the adoption of Medi-Cal reimbursement rates.
(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 601, Sec. 13. Effective January 1, 2004.)