The director shall, by regulation, establish standards for specialized out-of-home care. The department shall establish rate schedules which include separate rates for room and board, for the specialized care component and for personal and incidental needs.
The director shall develop an overall plan which integrates the system of out-of-home nonmedical care facility services covered by the provision of this chapter with the system of medical care facility services covered by the provisions of Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of this part. The purpose of such overall plan shall be to maintain an appropriate balance between nonmedical and medical facilities to the end that recipients of public assistance or persons otherwise defined as needy by the provisions of this code are given the care they require at the lowest possible cost.
The plan established by the director pursuant to this section may include the use of an interdisciplinary review process to insure that persons are not placed or retained in medical care facilities when appropriate care can otherwise be provided at lower cost.
Nothing in this article shall be interpreted to preclude any facility licensed under the provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code from providing out-of-home care services, provided such facilities meet the standards established by the provisions of this section.
(Amended by Stats. 1977, Ch. 1252.)