A SpotLight On California HCBS Waivers

Like other states, California uses Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers to develop creative alternatives for Medicaid beneficiaries who would otherwise require care in a nursing facility or hospital. Recipients of HCBS waiver services—including case management, community transition services, private duty nursing, family training, home health aides, life-sustaining utility reimbursement, habilitation services, and respite care—must be eligible for Medi-Cal (the state's Medicaid system). To administer these services, the state has eight HCBS 1915(c) waivers, and spends about $2.6 billion annually. After the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) redefined Medicaid HCBS . . .