AB 2081: 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 by, and funded pursuant to, 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. placement, subject to federal cost neutrality. Existing law sets forth provisions authorizing the director to expand the number of waiver slots up to 5,000 additional slots.

This bill would recast the above-described waiver provisions to refer to the HCBA Waiver and would delete the provision relating to the 5,000 slots. The bill would require the department, beginning in 2027, to ensure that the HCBA Waiver provides for an annual increase of not fewer than 10,000 waiver slots for each waiver year, and for the HCBA Waiver period, to increase the total number of waiver slots by 10,000, in addition to any planned expansion of waiver slots federally approved as of January 1, 2026, as specified.

The bill would require the department, by March 1, 2027, to seek any necessary amendments to the HCBA Waiver to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to enroll all individuals who are eligible for, and express an interest in, participating in the HCBA Waiver who are currently on a waiting list. The bill would require the department to continue to monitor the capacity of the HCBA Waiver and to expand capacity, as specified.