California nabs federal funding for home- and community-based program for Medicaid beneficiaries

New Medicaid regulations give states flexibility with home and community based services

California is the first state to get regulatory approval for a federally funded program aimed at keeping elderly and disabled individuals out of nursing homes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program, called Community First Choice, establishes a new state option to provide home and community-based services. It does so by enhancing “Medi-Cal's [Medicaid's] ability to provide community-based personal attendant services and support to seniors and persons with disabilities who otherwise would need institutional care,” the California Department of Health Care Services said in a statement.

By approving the First Choice program, CMS will now give the state a 6% increase in its federal medical assistance percentage for funds spent on personal attendant services. California will immediately get the increased federal funding, with the state slated to get an additional $573 million in government funds in the first two years.