SACRAMENTO – Assembly Bill 518, authored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), would have made Community Based Adult Services (CBAS) a permanent Medi-Cal benefit in California, however, the bill stalled in Senate Health Committee last week.

“Although the bill was not voted on in committee, recent news reports suggesting that CBAS is now dead are simply not true,” said Yamada. “I want to assure those who rely on this program that services are expected to continue at least through August 2014, when the court settlement establishing CBAS expires.”

AB 518, which passed from the Assembly with unanimous bipartisan support, failed to be brought up for a vote in Senate Health Committee after Assemblymember Yamada declined to include new industry-backed language that would have allowed the for-profit service model to expand.

Yamada had earlier accepted “grandfathering” amendments to allow existing for-profit agencies to continue operating.

“As a lawmaker, I believe as a matter of state policy that tax dollars shouldn’t be used to turn a profit,” said Yamada, Chair of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee. “Another consideration is that these services have been under a statewide moratorium for new certifications since 2006 because of fraud and abuse reports among some for-profit centers in southern California.”

CBAS was established as the result of a lawsuit brought against the state on behalf of disabled individuals whose independence was jeopardized by the elimination of California’s long-standing, successful Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) program.

Because the settlement agreement expires in August 2014, AB 518 was intended to provide stability for CBAS by establishing it as a permanent program in state law.