Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medicaid Waivers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate bill to continue paid family caregiver pilot prompts questions about funding and federal match
Summary
Lawmakers discussed a $7.3 million proposal to continue paid family caregiver payments for individuals on certain waivers; sponsors said the request maintains services for current enrollees while the state pursues a cross-disability waiver that may allow federal matching.
Senate Bill 23-05 would continue the state-paid family-caregiver pilot that reimburses legally responsible family members to provide care to individuals on DD, autism or medically fragile waivers. Representative Matt Ruby and Senator Kathy Hogan described the program as a temporary mechanism to keep children and adults with acute care needs in their homes rather than in institutional settings.
Senator Kathy Hogan, sponsor of the bill, said the appropriation request — roughly $7.3 million — was designed to maintain services for about 70–86 current recipients and to cover pending applicants. “This is a maintenance request to maintain what we're currently doing. It doesn't grow the program,” Hogan said, adding the working group used average daily rates to construct the fiscal estimate.
Department staff explained that the program is currently 100% state-funded and not in the governor’s budget; the department said adding the benefit to a Medicaid waiver would require opening the waiver to all eligible recipients and could increase costs, but that the cross-disability waiver is intended to align benefits and allow federal (FMAP) matching in the future.
Committee members pressed for clarity on per-recipient costs, administrative overhead, and whether savings would occur if the program prevented higher-cost institutional placements. Department witnesses said implementation details and federal-match timing depend on cross-disability waiver approval, which they estimated could be targeted for July 1, 2028.
No formal committee vote on the bill was recorded in this transcript excerpt; the committee closed discussion and moved on to other agenda items.
