Belshe

Appellant Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center appeals from the trial court’s denial of its petition for a writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc. § 1085) against S. Kimberly Belshé, as Director of the California Department of Health Services (for ease of reference referred to herein as the Department). Appellant contends the trial court erred in interpreting Welfare and Institutions Code section 14105.98 as precluding judicial relief to correct an error by the Department in determining appellant’s share of supplemental Medi-Cal payments under the “disproportionate share hospital” (DSH) program which provides supplemental payments to hospitals serving a disproportionate number of low-income patients. We shall affirm the trial court’s denial of the writ petition.

The Statutory Framework

“The Medi-Cal program (§ 14000 et seq.) represents California’s implementation of the federal Medicaid program ( 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396 -1396v), through which the federal government provides financial assistance to states so that they may furnish medical care to qualified indigent persons. [Citation.] The Department is the single state agency designated to administer the Medi-Cal program. (§ 14203.)”…