BILL NUMBER: AB 2968	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Leno

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2006

   An act to add Section 14132.24 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2968, as introduced, Leno  Medi-Cal: community-living support
benefit.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Services and under
which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits,
including certain residential care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is,
in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions.
   Existing law, the California Statewide Supportive Housing
Initiative Act, provides for grants for the provision of supportive
housing for specified low-income individuals with one or more
disabilities.
   This bill would require the department to develop and implement a
program to provide a community-living support benefit to eligible
Medi-Cal beneficiaries. It would require the department to submit any
federal documentation that is necessary to provide this benefit, and
to implement the benefit only to the extent that federal financial
participation is available. The bill would require that the benefit
include residence in community-based housing sites and access to
certain community-living support services provided or coordinated at
those sites. Eligibility for the benefit would be based upon
specified factors, including eligibility for Medi-Cal and membership
in the targeted population under the California Statewide Supportive
Housing Initiative Act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Medi-Cal eligible persons who would otherwise be homeless or
living in shelters and who reside in community-based housing receive
crucial health services that may reduce their use of acute
psychiatric and medical services.
   (b) Community-based housing is noninstitutional residential
housing linked to either community-based or site-based medical and
psychosocial service supports.
   (c) Under the existing Medi-Cal program, reimbursement for
providing an array of treatment services to Medi-Cal eligible
residents in assisted living is complicated, and frequently results
in the services being provided instead in more expensive
institutional settings.
   (d) A single designated Medi-Cal reimbursement rate structure for
community-living support services that assist beneficiaries who would
otherwise be homeless or living in shelters would expand
community-based options for beneficiaries who would otherwise require
costly institutional care.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14132.24 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, 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) Residence in community-based housing sites that enable
beneficiaries to remain in the least restrictive and most homelike
environment while receiving the medical and personal care necessary
to protect their health and well-being. These community-based housing
units may include, but are not limited to, assisted living units, as
defined in Section 1771 of the Health and Safety Code, 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.
   (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 support services specified in Section 53290 of
the Health and Safety Code.
   (c) An individual shall be eligible for the community-living
support benefit if he or she is eligible for the Medi-Cal program, is
a member of the target population, as defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 53260 of the Health and Safety Code, and satisfies 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 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.
   (d) 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, including the pilot project established pursuant to
Section 14132.26 and any other coordinated care pilot project.