(a)

1. (1) Except as provided in this section, all data and other information relating to a hospital that are used for the purposes of this article, including, without limitation, the days data source, shall continue to be used to determine the payments to that hospital, regardless of whether the hospital has undergone one or more changes of ownership.
2. (2) All supplemental payments to a hospital under this article shall be made to the licensee of a hospital on the date the supplemental payment is made. All quality assurance fee payments under this article shall be paid by the licensee of a hospital on the date the quarterly quality assurance fee payment is due.

(d) The following provisions shall apply only for purposes of this article, and shall have no application outside of this article nor shall they affect the assumption of any outstanding monetary obligation to the Medi-Cal program:

1. (1) The director shall develop and describe in provider bulletins and on the department’s Internet Web site a process by which the new operator of a hospital that has a days data source in whole or in part from a previous operator may enter into an agreement with the department to confirm that it is financially responsible or to become financially responsible to the department for the outstanding monetary obligation to the Medi-Cal program of the previous operator in order to avoid being classified as a new hospital for purposes of this article. This process shall be available for changes of ownership that occur before, on, or after January 1, 2014, but only in regard to payments under this article and otherwise shall have no retroactive effect.

2. (2) The outstanding monetary obligation referred to in subdivision (ai) of Section 14169.51 shall include responsibility for all of the following:

   1. (A) Payment of the quality assurance fee established pursuant to this article.
   2. (B) Known overpayments that have been asserted by the department or its fiscal intermediary by sending a written communication that is received by the hospital prior to the date that the new operator becomes the licensee of the hospital.
   3. (C) Overpayments that are asserted after such date and arise from customary reconciliations of payments, such as cost report settlements, and, with the exception of overpayments described in subparagraph (B), shall exclude liabilities arising from the fraudulent or intentionally criminal act of a prior operator if the new operator did not knowingly participate in or continue the fraudulent or criminal act after becoming the licensee.
3. (3) The department shall have the discretion to determine whether the new owner properly and fully agreed to be financially responsible for the outstanding monetary obligation in connection with the Medi-Cal program and seek additional assurances as the department deems necessary, except that a new owner that executes an agreement with the department to be financially responsible for the monetary obligations as described in paragraph (1) shall be conclusively deemed to have agreed to be financially responsible for the outstanding monetary obligation in connection with the Medi-Cal program. The department shall have the discretion to establish the terms for satisfying the outstanding monetary obligation in connection with the Medi-Cal program, including, but not limited to, recoupment from amounts payable to the hospital under this section.