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Committee advances bill to cap assisted-living room-and-board rates for Medi-Cal participants
Summary
SB 433 would create an income-based cap on room-and-board charges for Medi-Cal participants in Assisted Living Waiver and CalAIM assisted-living transitions programs so residents retain a modest personal-needs allowance.
A presenter for SB 433 told the Assembly Human Services Committee that the bill would establish room-and-board rate protections for Medi-Cal participants in the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) and CalAIM assisted-living transitions community support programs so they retain a modest personal-needs allowance.
Witnesses described cases they said demonstrate why protections are needed. Hagar Dickman of Justice and Aging told the committee that Medi-Cal participants without Supplemental Security Income (SSI) lack statutory protections that keep SSI recipients from being charged above a standardized rate; she said roughly 44% of program participants lack SSI and are therefore unprotected. Dickman said program participants are low income, often have high care needs, and that some facilities have charged large supplemental fees or raised rates so high residents cannot afford to stay.
"Participants in these programs are very low income... Recently there's also been an increase in users with mental health conditions," Dickman said, and she emphasized that SB 433 does not change Medi-Cal service rates but creates parity in resident protections so program participants can keep a modest personal-needs allowance.
Maura Gibney of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform said callers reported large fee increases and gave the committee a concrete example in which a resident with a monthly income of $1,500 was charged $1,480, leaving $20 for personal needs.
The California Assisted Living Association told the committee it appreciates the committee amendments and said it would remove opposition when amendments are in print; other groups signaled support or neutrality once amendments were accepted. The author and sponsors emphasized the bill's goal of preventing displacement and homelessness among low-income older adults and people with disabilities.
The committee moved SB 433 as amended to the Assembly Appropriations Committee; the vote was recorded as 5–0 on the committee call and later closed with the motion on the roll.
