County of San Joaquin v. Belshe

Opinion

BROWN, J.

In this appeal from a judgment granting a petition for writ of mandate, we consider the application of Welfare and Institutions Code section 14171 (further undesignated statutory references are to this code), a statute designed to expedite appeals from audits by the Department of Health Services (Department) of claims submitted by institutional Medi-Cal providers. The statute imposes a penalty against the Department for delay in conducting the appeal hearing or in adopting the final decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ). In this case, the trial court found the penalty…