BILL NUMBER: AB 488 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gonzalez
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
An act to amend Section 14132.24 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to Medi-Cal. add Sections
19155 and 19405 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
rehabilitation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 488, as amended, Gonzalez. Medi-Cal: community-living
support benefits. Rehabilitation: dignity stipend.
Existing state and federal laws provide for payment of a special
minimum wage for workers with disabilities that is lower than the
established minimum wage rate, under specified circumstances.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Rehabilitation to regulate
vocational rehabilitation services, which are defined as specified
services and goods to assist persons with disabilities in employment.
This bill would define "dignity stipend" as the value provided by
an employer to workers defined by the Department of Rehabilitation as
eligible individuals with mental disabilities when the employer pays
a special minimum wage to those workers, operates a community
rehabilitation program certified by the Department of Rehabilitation
that provides services to those workers, and the hourly wage plus the
hourly cost of providing those services exceeds 125% of the
California minimum wage rate for those workers. The bill would
require the department to determine whether an employer that operates
a community rehabilitation program provides a dignity stipend, when
certifying the program.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, and
under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care
services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by
federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires the
department to develop and implement a program to provide a
community-living support benefit to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
Existing law requires the community-living support benefit to include
reimbursement for an array of health-related and psychological
services provided or coordinated at community-based housing sites,
and access to community-living support services provided or
coordinated at the community-based housing site.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19155 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
19155. "Dignity stipend" means the value provided by an employer
to workers defined by the Department of Rehabilitation as eligible
individuals with mental disabilities under the following conditions:
(a) The employer operates a community rehabilitation program
certified by the Department of Rehabilitation that provides
vocational rehabilitation services to the workers described in
subdivision (b).
(b) The employer pays a special minimum wage to workers with
disabilities pursuant to Section 214(c) of Title 29 of the United
States Code or Section 1191 or 1191.5 of the Labor Code.
(c) The hourly wage described in subdivision (b) added to the
employer's hourly cost of providing the services described in
subdivision (a) exceeds 125 percent of the California minimum wage
rate for each of the workers described in subdivision (b).
SEC. 2. Section 19405 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
19405. The department shall determine, in certifying a community
rehabilitation program, whether the employer that operates the
program provides a dignity stipend as defined in Section 19155.
SECTION 1. Section 14132.24 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
14132.24. (a) The department shall develop and implement a
program to provide a community-living support benefit to eligible
Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The department shall submit any waiver
application, modification of any existing waiver, or amendment to the
Medicaid state plan, that is necessary to provide this benefit, and
shall implement the benefit only to the extent that federal financial
participation is available.
(b) The community-living support benefit shall include both of the
following:
(1) (A) Reimbursement for an array of health-related and
psychosocial services provided or coordinated at community-based
housing sites that enable beneficiaries to remain in the least
restrictive and most homelike environment while receiving the
health-related services, including personal care and psychosocial
services, necessary to protect their health and well-being. These
community-based housing units may include, but are not limited to,
the living area or unit within a facility that is specifically
designed to provide ongoing assisted living services, licensed
residential care facilities for the elderly, publicly funded senior
and disabled housing projects, or supportive housing sites that serve
chronically homeless individuals with chronic or disabling health
conditions.
(B) For purposes of this section, "assisted living services"
includes, but is not limited to, assistance with personal activities
of daily living, including dressing, feeding, toileting, bathing,
grooming, mobility, and associated tasks, to help provide for and
maintain physical and psychological comfort.
(2) Access to community-living support services provided or
coordinated at the community-based housing site, including, but not
limited to, the personal care and health services specified in
paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 1788 of the Health and
Safety Code, and the health related support services specified in
former Section 53290 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) Services available through the community-living support
benefit shall not duplicate services available through the Medi-Cal
state plan, other Medi-Cal waivers, or other programs financed by the
state.
(d) An individual shall be eligible for the community-living
support benefit if he or she is eligible for the Medi-Cal program, is
a resident of San Francisco who would otherwise be homeless, living
in shelters, or institutionalized, and meets one or both of the
following criteria:
(1) The department determines that he or she would benefit from
supportive housing, as defined in subdivision (c) of former Section
53260 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) The department determines that he or she is eligible for
placement in a skilled nursing facility, as defined in subdivision
(c) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, or an intermediate
care facility, as defined in subdivision (d) of that section.
(e) The department may modify the eligibility criteria specified
in subdivision (d), if needed, to qualify the community-living
support benefit for federal financial participation.
(f) The department shall seek to maximize resources for
community-based housing by coordinating the community-living support
benefit with existing efforts to coordinate care, improve health
outcomes, and reduce long-term care costs for the targeted
population.
(g) This section shall be implemented only upon adoption of a
resolution by the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San
Francisco providing county funds for use by the state to match
federal Medicaid funds to receive federal funds for services provided
under the waiver specified in this section, and for any costs
associated with implementing and monitoring the waiver, to limit
additional state costs.