The California Department of Social Services has issued instructions regarding IHSS time for Medical Accompaniment. Accompaniment to health care appointments and alternative resource sites is an allowable IHSS service. CDSS states its policy is Medical Accompaniment can only be authorized when the recipient needs assistance with another IHSS authorized task during transportation or at the medical appointment or alternative resource site. CDSS policy is Medical Accompaniment is not authorized only to fill the recipient’s need for transportation. Wait time is available for appointments when the provider provides authorized Medical Accompaniment and the provider is not performing work duties but is unable to use the time for their own purposes.
CDSS policy is that Medical Accompaniment is generally unavailable for minor recipients because it is a parental responsibility to accompany children to medical appointments. Medical Accompaniment for a minor can be authorized only if the minor has an assessed extraordinary need, the appointment is for specialty care, and the minor has a need for another IHSS authorized task during transportation or at the medical appointment. Although Medical Accompaniment is not available for routine medical appointments, if the minor recipient needs other authorized services based on assessed extraordinary need, the provider may be paid for assistance with another IHSS authorized task during transportation or at the medical appointment. Wait time is also generally unavailable for minor recipients, with limited exceptions such as a medical professional taking physical charge of the minor recipient for a set period of time and there is enough time for the parent provider to conduct their own personal business.
Medical Accompaniment is available for appointments only when the county verifies that the recipient is not receiving Medi-Cal non-emergency medical transportation for that appointment. When a recipient receives non-emergency medical transportation for an appointment, but the recipient needs assistance with another IHSS authorized task during transportation or at the medical appointment, Medical Accompaniment can be authorized, but only for the amount of time for travel to and from the recipient’s home to the appointment. This is because the time for the other IHSS authorized tasks should already have been accounted for in the total authorization for those service categories. (ACL 17-42, June 23, 2017.)