Section 31-8-165. Use of segregated account funds; form for reporting provider fee; maintenance of records; inaccurate payments; penalty for failing to pay

   (a) The department shall collect the provider fees imposed pursuant to Code Section 31-8-164. All revenues raised pursuant to this article shall be deposited into the segregated account. Such funds shall be dedicated and used for the sole purpose of obtaining federal financial participation for medical assistance payments to nursing homes that disproportionately serve the medically indigent.

(b) The department shall prepare and distribute a form upon which a nursing home shall calculate and report to the department the provider fee.

(c) Each nursing home shall keep and preserve for a period of three years such books and records as may be necessary to determine the amount for which it is liable under this article. The department shall have the authority to inspect and copy the records of a nursing home for purposes of auditing the calculation of the provider fee. All information obtained by the department pursuant to this article shall be confidential and shall not constitute a public record.

(d) In the event that the department determines that a nursing home has underpaid or overpaid the provider fee, the department shall notify the nursing home of the balance of the provider fee or refund that is due. Such payment or refund shall be due within 30 days of the department's notice.

(e) Any nursing home that fails to pay the provider fee pursuant to this article within the time required by this article shall pay, in addition to the outstanding provider fee, a 6 percent penalty for each month or fraction thereof that the payment is overdue. If a provider fee has not been received by the department by the last day of the month, the department shall withhold an amount equal to the provider fee and penalty owed from any medical assistance payment due such nursing home under the Medicaid program. The provider fee levied by this article shall constitute a debt due the state and may be collected by civil action and the filing of tax liens in addition to such methods provided for in this article. Any penalty that accrues pursuant to this subsection shall be credited to the segregated account.

Code 1981, § 31-8-165, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 435, § 2.