Medi-Cal: California Community Transitions program.

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 establishes the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration, which is designed to achieve various objectives with respect to institutional and home- and community-based long-term care services provided under state Medicaid programs. Under the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration, an eligible individual is required, among other qualifications, to have resided in a inpatient facility for at least 90 consecutive days. This bill would require the department to provide services consistent with the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration for transitioning eligible individuals out of an inpatient facility who have not resided in the facility for at least 90 consecutive days. A Medi-Cal beneficiary who has resided in an inpatient facility for at least 90 consecutive days would be ineligible for services under the bill, except as specified. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific the bill by means of letters, provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action. Services would not be provided pursuant to the bill during any period that the department has obtained any necessary federal approvals under the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration to not apply the 90-day residence eligibility requirement. The bill would require the department to cease to enroll beneficiaries pursuant to the bill commencing January 1, 2023, and to cease to provide services pursuant to the bill commencing January 1, 2024. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.