Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income persons receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing federal law provides for various home- and community-based services waivers that promote coverage and services that enable an individual who would otherwise be institutionalized to live at home or in the community.

This bill would require the department to submit a waiver application or an amendment to the state plan for home- and community-based services (HCBS) to authorize an individual who is eligible for those services to enroll in Medi-Cal when the military service member has received military orders to transfer into California, upon receipt of the orders and the beneficiary was receiving Medicaid HCBS in the last state of residence. The bill would authorize a veteran beneficiary or a child beneficiary whose parent or guardian is an active or retired military service member to retain eligibility for Medi-Cal HCBS if the service member receives a governmental order to relocate to another state, as long as the parent or guardian retains California as the state of legal residence and the beneficiary retains eligibility for the services.