AB 1518, as introduced, Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care. Medi-Cal: nursing facilities.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, 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 federal law authorizes the state to obtain waivers for home and community-based services. Existing law authorizes the department to seek an increase in the scope of these waivers, in order to enable additional nursing facility residents to transition into the community, subject to implementation of these amended waivers upon obtaining federal financial participation, and to the extent it can demonstrate fiscal neutrality within the overall department budget.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 14132.99 of the Welfare and Institutions
2Code, as added by Section 3 of Chapter 551 of the Statutes of
32005, is amended to read:
(a) For the purposes of this section, “facility
5residents” means individuals who are currently residing in a nursing
6facility and whose care is paid for by Medi-Cal either with or
7without a share of cost. The term “facility residents” also includes
8individuals who are hospitalized and who are or will be waiting
9for transfer to a nursing facility.
10(b) An additional 500 slots beyond those currently authorized
11for the home- and community-based Level A/B nursing facility
12waiver shall be added and 250 of these slots shall be reserved for
13residents residing in facilities and transitioning out of facilities.
14(c) For those patients who are in acute care hospitals and
who
15are pending placement in a nursing facility, the department shall
16expedite the processing of waiver applicationsbegin delete in order to divert begin insert so
17hospital discharges from nursing facilities into the community.end delete
18that upon discharge those patients are diverted into the community
19rather than into nursing facilities.end insert
20(d) The nursing facility Level A/B waivers shall be amended
21to add the following services:
22(1) One-time community transition services as defined and
23allowed by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
24including, but not limited to, security deposits that are required to
25obtain a lease on an apartment or home, essential furnishings, and
26moving expenses required to occupy and
use a community
27domicile, set-upbegin delete fees,end deletebegin insert
feesend insert or deposits for utility or service access,
28including, but not limited to, telephone, electricity, and heating,
29and health and safety assurances, including, but not limited to, pest
30eradication, allergen control, or one-time cleaning prior to
31occupancy. These costs shall not exceed five thousand dollars
32($5,000).
33(2) Habilitation services, as defined in Section 1915(c)(5) of
34the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396n(c)(5)), and
35in attachment 3-d to the July 25, 2003, State Medicaid Directors
36Letter re Olmstead Update No. 3, to mean services designed to
37assist individuals in acquiring, retaining, and improving the
P3 1self-help, socialization, and adaptive skills necessary to reside
2successfully in home- and community-based settings.
3(e) When requesting the renewal of the waiver, the department
4shall consider expanding the number
of waiver slots. Prior to
5submission of the waiver renewal request, the department shall
6notify the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the
7Legislature of the number of waiver slots included in the waiver
8renewal request along with supportive data for those slots.
9(f) The department shall implement this section only to the
10extent it can demonstrate fiscal neutrality within the overall
11department budget, and federal fiscal neutrality as required under
12the terms of the federal waiver, and only if the department has
13obtained the necessary approvals and receives federal financial
14participation from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
15Services. Contingent upon federal approval of the waiver
16expansion, implementation shall commence within six months of
17the department receiving authorization for the necessary resources
18to provide the services to additional waiver participants.
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