BILL NUMBER: AJR 11	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Swanson

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2007

   Relative to the In-Home Supportive Services program.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 11, as introduced, Swanson. In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
Plus Waiver.
   This measure would encourage the State Department of Social
Services, the State Department of Health Services, the Secretary of
California Health and Human Services, and other relevant departments
to work to ensure that the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Plus
Waiver is renewed and protected, and would urge the federal Centers
for Medicaid and Medicare Services to renew the waiver.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, For over 30 years, the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
program has provided care for our most precious residents; and
   WHEREAS, Currently, IHSS allows more than 370,000 aged, blind, and
disabled Californians to remain safely and independently in their
own homes instead of in more expensive institutional care; and
   WHEREAS, Over 300,000 dedicated workers provide IHSS care to
residents in their homes; and
   WHEREAS, The IHSS Residual program was a primarily state- and
county-funded program which allowed individuals to receive IHSS care
from a family member provider; and
   WHEREAS, In 2004, facing a devastating budget cut to the residual
program, providers, consumers, counties, the Legislature, and the
administration worked together to apply for a federal waiver under
Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1315) to
obtain additional Medicaid funding for the IHSS program; and
   WHEREAS, Following unprecedented federal, state, and stakeholder
cooperation, the federal Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services
(CMS) approved the waiver in just four months; and
   WHEREAS, Due to the new federal funding, over 75,000 residual
program consumers continued to receive uninterrupted IHSS care under
the new IHSS Plus Waiver; and
   WHEREAS, The IHSS Plus Waiver will expire in July 2009, and the
state must apply for renewal in 2008; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That it is a priority of this Legislature to
continue its commitment to the In-Home Supportive Services program
and the preservation of the residual program; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature encourages the State Department of
Social Services, State Department of Health Services, the Secretary
of California Health and Human Services, and all other relevant
departments to work expeditiously to ensure that the IHSS Plus Waiver
program is renewed and protected; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges the federal Centers for
Medicaid and Medicare Services to renew the IHSS Plus Waiver and
preserve the continuum of care that thousands of aged, blind, and
disabled Californians depend on every day to sustain their
independence and maintain their dignity; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Director of Social Services, the Director of
Health Services, the Secretary of California Health and Human
Services, and the Secretary of the United States Health and Human
Services.