§ 108A-55.  Payments.

(a) The Department may authorize, within appropriations made for this purpose, payments of all or part of the cost of medical and other remedial care for any eligible person when it is essential to the health and welfare of such person that such care be provided, and when the total resources of such person are not sufficient to provide the necessary care. When determining whether a person has sufficient resources to provide necessary medical care, there shall be excluded from consideration the person's primary place of residence and the land on which it is situated, and in addition there shall be excluded real property contiguous with the person's primary place of residence in which the property tax value is less than twelve thousand dollars ($12,000).

(b) Payments shall be made only to intermediate care facilities, hospitals and nursing homes licensed and approved under the laws of the State of North Carolina or under the laws of another state, or to pharmacies, physicians, dentists, optometrists or other providers of health-related services authorized by the Department. Payments may also be made to such fiscal intermediaries and to the capitation or prepaid health service contractors as may be authorized by the Department. Arrangements under which payments are made to capitation or prepaid health services contracts are not subject to the provisions of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes or of Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. However, the Department shall: (i) submit all proposed contracts for supplies, materials, printing, equipment, and contractual services that exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) authorized by this subsection to the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee for review as provided in G.S. 114-8.3; and (ii) include in all agreements or contracts to be awarded by the Department under this subsection a standard clause which provides that the State Auditor and internal auditors of the Department may audit the records of the contractor during and after the term of the contract to verify accounts and data affecting fees and performance. The Department shall not award a cost plus percentage of cost agreement or contract for any purpose.

(c) The Department shall reimburse providers of services, equipment, or supplies under the Medical Assistance Program in the following amounts:

(1) The amount approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, if CMS approves an exact reimbursement amount.

(2) The amount determined by application of a method approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, if CMS approves the method by which a reimbursement amount is determined, and not the exact amount.

The Department shall establish the methods by which reimbursement amounts are determined in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. A change in a reimbursement amount becomes effective as of the date for which the change is approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

(d) No payments shall be made for the care of any person in a nursing home or intermediate care home which is owned or operated in whole or in part by a member of the Social Services Commission, of any county board of social services, or of any board of county commissioners, or by an official or employee of the Department or of any county department of social services or by a spouse of any such person.

(e) Medicaid is a secondary payor of claims. The Department shall apply Medicaid medical policy to recipients who have primary insurance other than Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid. For recipients who have primary insurance other than Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or Medicaid, the Department shall pay the lesser of the Medicaid Allowable Amount or an amount up to the actual coinsurance or deductible or both of the primary payor, in accordance with the State Plan, as approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department may disregard application of this policy in cases where application of the policy would adversely affect patient care.

(f) For payments made in fiscal year 2013-2014 and for subsequent fiscal years, the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Benefits, shall publish on its Web site comprehensive information on Medicaid payments made to providers. The information shall be updated annually within three months of the close of a State fiscal year to include payments for that fiscal year. The information published shall include all of the following for each individual providing Medicaid services:

(1) Name of the individual providing the service.

(2) Location of service provider's principal place of business.

(3) Location of provided services, listed with both municipality and county. If an individual provides services in multiple locations, then those shall be specified and the items in subdivisions (6) through (10) of this subsection shall be provided for each location.

(4) Practice name, hospital name, or other business name with which the individual providing service is affiliated.

(5) Type of service provider and practice area.

(6) Number of Medicaid patients seen.

(7) Number of visits with Medicaid patients.

(8) Number of procedures performed or items furnished for Medicaid patients.

(9) Amount of Medicaid service payments received.

(10) Amount of Medicaid supplemental payments received.

(11) Amount of Medicaid settlement payments received.

(12) Amount of Medicaid recoupments.

The information shall be published in a character-separated values (CSV) plain text format or other file format that may easily be imported into software used for spreadsheets, databases, and data analytics. The Department shall ensure that no protected patient information be published. (1965, c. 1173, s. 1; 1969, c. 546, s. 1; 1971, c. 435; 1973, c. 476, s. 138; c. 644; 1975, c. 123, ss. 1, 2; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1219, c. 25; 1979, c. 702, s. 7; 1981, c. 275, s. 1; c. 849, s. 2; 1991, c. 388, s. 1; 1993, c. 529, s. 7.3; 1998-212, s. 12.12B(c); 2010-194, s. 15; 2011-291, s. 2.22; 2011-326, s. 15(o); 2013-360, s. 12H.4; 2014-100, ss. 12H.15(a), 12H.21(b); 2019-81, s. 15(a).)