Senate committee hears fiscal case for shifting some assisted‑living funding to Community First Choice

The Montana Senate Finance and Claims Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 100, the Senior Care Facility Access Stabilization Act, which would move some assisted‑living funding from the Big Sky waiver into the Community First Choice (CFC) program and change how related case management is paid.

Senator Becky Beard, sponsor and senator for District 38, told the committee the bill would “transfer assisted living individual…from the waiver to CFC” and that 124 people on the current Big Sky waiver waitlist would qualify for CFC if the bill is implemented.

The hearing focused on the fiscal note and implementation details rather than policy debate. A fiscal analyst who presented materials to the committee documented multiple offsetting figures: an initial administrative cost of about $80,000 in the first year and roughly $125,000 annually thereafter; estimated savings from shifting assisted‑living services from the waiver to CFC…