Bill Text: CA AB1518 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Medi-Cal: nursing facilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-11-30 - Died on Senate inactive file. [AB1518 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1518-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1518	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care (Assembly
Members Brown (Chair), Gipson, Levine, and Lopez)

                        MARCH 10, 2015

   An act to amend Section 14132.99 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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 1.  Section 14132.99 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
as added by Section 3 of Chapter 551 of the Statutes of 2005, is
amended to read:
   14132.99.  (a) For the purposes of this section, "facility
residents" means individuals who are currently residing in a nursing
facility and whose care is paid for by Medi-Cal either with or
without a share of cost. The term "facility residents" also includes
individuals who are hospitalized and who are or will be waiting for
transfer to a nursing facility.
   (b) An additional 500 slots beyond those currently authorized for
the home- and community-based Level A/B nursing facility waiver shall
be added and 250 of these slots shall be reserved for residents
residing in facilities and transitioning out of facilities.
   (c) For those patients who are in acute care hospitals and who are
pending placement in a nursing facility, the department shall
expedite the processing of waiver applications  in order to
divert hospital discharges from nursing facilities into the
community.   so that upon discharge those patients are
diverted into the community rather than into nursing facilities.

   (d) The nursing facility Level A/B waivers shall be amended to add
the following services:
   (1) One-time community transition services as defined and allowed
by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including,
but not limited to, security deposits that are required to obtain a
lease on an apartment or home, essential furnishings, and moving
expenses required to occupy and use a community domicile, set-up
 fees,   fees  or deposits for utility or
service access, including, but not limited to, telephone,
electricity, and heating, and health and safety assurances,
including, but not limited to, pest eradication, allergen control, or
one-time cleaning prior to occupancy. These costs shall not exceed
five thousand dollars ($5,000).
   (2) Habilitation services, as defined in Section 1915(c)(5) of the
federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396n(c)(5)), and in
attachment 3-d to the July 25, 2003, State Medicaid Directors Letter
re Olmstead Update No. 3, to mean services designed to assist
individuals in acquiring, retaining, and improving the self-help,
socialization, and adaptive skills necessary to reside successfully
in home- and community-based settings.
   (e) When requesting the renewal of the waiver, the department
shall consider expanding the number of waiver slots. Prior to
submission of the waiver renewal request, the department shall notify
the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature of
the number of waiver slots included in the waiver renewal request
along with supportive data for those slots.
   (f) The department shall implement this section only to the extent
it can demonstrate fiscal neutrality within the overall department
budget, and federal fiscal neutrality as required under the terms of
the federal waiver, and only if the department has obtained the
necessary approvals and receives federal financial participation from
the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Contingent
upon federal approval of the waiver expansion, implementation shall
commence within six months of the department receiving authorization
for the necessary resources to provide the services to additional
waiver participants.