Alaska adopts Medicaid rules for specialized group home and family home habilitation

Alaska has adopted rules that add specialized group home and family home habilitation to what Medicaid covers, the state health department said Friday.

Habilitation is the daily support that helps people with disabilities live in a group home or a family's home, covering things like personal care, supervision and building everyday skills. The new rules define when that care counts as specialized, meaning it serves people who need more intensive support, and that designation determines which providers can be certified and what they get paid.

The department said in the spring that it does not expect the change to require additional money.

The current rate chart pays $468.17 a day for group home habilitation and $195.06 a day for family home habilitation for adults, though those are the ordinary rates rather than the specialized ones the new rules create. A department evaluation proposes raising the group home rate slightly, to $470.26 a day, next fiscal year.

The rules generally take effect 30 days after the lieutenant governor signs them.