Medi-Cal: Home and Community-Based Alternatives Waiver.

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. Under existing law, home- and community-based services (HCBS) approved by the United States Department of Health and Human Services are covered for eligible individuals to the extent that federal financial participation is available for those services under the state plan or waivers granted in accordance with certain federal provisions. Existing law authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to seek waivers for any or all approvable HCBS. Existing law sets forth provisions for the implementation of the Nursing Facility/Acute Hospital Transition and Diversion Waiver, which is the predecessor of the Home and Community-Based Alternatives (HCBA) Waiver, for purposes of providing care management services to individuals who are at risk of nursing facility or institutional placement. This bill would recast those provisions to refer to the HCBA Waiver. The bill would delete a provision authorizing the expansion of the number of waiver slots up to 5,000 additional slots, and would instead require the enrollment of all eligible individuals who apply for the HCBA Waiver. The bill would require the department, by March 1, 2026, to seek any necessary amendments to the waiver to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to enroll all eligible individuals who are currently on a waiting list for the waiver, as specified. The bill would require the department, by March 1, 2026, to submit a rate study to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature addressing the sustainability, quality, and transparency of rates for the HCBA Waiver. The bill would require that the study include an assessment of the effectiveness of the methods used to pay for services under the waiver, with consideration of certain factors. The bill would make related legislative findings.