Proposed Legislation in California is Key to Bringing Medically Fragile Children Home From The Hospital

In California, Governor Newsom and the state’s legislators have an opportunity to pass legislation that would help bring medically fragile children out of the hospital and back home. This bill (SB1492) not only protects California’s medically complex patient population, but also saves the state $175 million annually through reduced hospitalizations.

Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar (D – San Fernando Valley), this legislation would provide a funding pathway from the Managed Care Organization (MCO) provider tax for continuous skilled nursing care in the home for vulnerable pediatric and adult patients under Medi-Cal. Many of these patients require assistive technologies including ventilators and tracheostomies to sustain their lives. By providing these patients with a private duty nurse at home, more hospital beds will become available, and patients will have long-term, comprehensive and compassionate care.

Currently, more than 1,000 families in California are looking for in-home care for their children’s complex medical needs. Those families are unable to bring their children home from the hospital due to a shortage in private duty nurses. If SB1492 passes, Medi-Cal rates will better fund private-duty nursing, which in turn will help contain costs and promote a better quality of life for California’s medically complex patients and their families.

At Maxim Healthcare Services, we are proud to stand with the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) and the members they represent to support this critical legislation. We are urging Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature to help bring these patients home.

To learn more about CAHSAH and how this policy would positively impact patients and their families, please click here. We thank Senator Menjivar and CAHSAH for their leadership and feel strongly that united we can make a difference. Together, we can get the care these patients so desperately need and deserve from the comfort of their own homes.