Home healthcare providers face deadline to re-enroll in California state program

The 2009 Budget Act included new registration procedures for providers to protect against fraud, said Lizelda Lopez, spokeswoman for the California Department of Social Services. They include providing fingerprints and submitting to a criminal background check, attending orientation and signing an agreement to abide by the rules of the program.

Current providers, who number more than 349,000, have until June 30 to begin the process, Lopez said. Most have already done so, but about 16,000 have yet to visit an In-Home Supportive Services office.

“If they are not in the system by July 1, we cannot pay them for services that they provide for IHSS,” she said. “So it is critically important.”

Advocates for the poor and disabled have criticized the new requirements, which they say are expensive and time-consuming and will therefore make it more difficult for those who need in-home care to find qualified providers.