Beta Hospice Care is a Care Coordination Agency listed by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).Beta is listed by DHCS. Here’s how to check
  1. Find Beta on the DHCS list. Beta is listed as a participating Care Coordination Agency under the name Beta Hospice Care. How to verify Beta
  2. No charge for care coordination. Medi-Cal pays Beta. Residents pay room and board. Costs and room and board
  3. Your choice. You may choose any Care Coordination Agency listed by DHCS and any participating home. Rights and complaints
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5 lessonsAbout 35 minutesNo CE or licensure credit

The ALW assessment and the five care tiers

Five short lessons for CCA care coordinators and nurses on the ALW Assessment Tool: what it measures, who completes it and when, how its score sets a tier from 1 to 5, what a tier changes and what it does not, and how to explain a tier without promising one.

Begin the courseSee the sourcesPrint the job aids

Written for

  • CCA professionals
Course version
2026.10.3
Text checked against its sources

Before you begin

What you will be able to do

  • Given an upcoming assessment, name who may complete the ALW Assessment Tool, when it is due and who makes the final determination, as the waiver states.
  • Given a participant's assessed needs, explain how the tool's score sets a tier from 1 to 5, including the Tier 5 criteria, without choosing a tier by hand.
  • Given a question about a tier, separate what the tier changes (the daily rate for care, access to some services) from what it does not (room and board, the plan's content, the person's choices).
  • Given a participant, family, referrer or home that asks for a tier, explain the tier in plain words, correct any promise of a tier, a rate or a date, and name the route for a disagreement.

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In this course

  1. What the ALW Assessment Tool is and what it measuresAbout 7 minutes · Not yet
  2. Who completes the assessment, and whenAbout 7 minutes · Not yet
  3. How the score sets a tier from 1 to 5About 7 minutes · Not yet
  4. What a tier changes, and what it does notAbout 7 minutes · Not yet
  5. Explaining a tier without promising oneAbout 8 minutes · Not yet
  6. Course check · 10 questions0 of 5 lessons done

Sources

Sources behind this course

Each lesson lists the sources it uses. Open the original for the exact rule, form or instruction that applies to your work. The source library describes each one in more detail.

California DHCS, approved by CMS

ALW waiver application CA.0431.R04.01, 2024 to 2029, as amended March 1, 2025

The Assessment Tool and level of care, who gives the tool and their training, reassessment and its timing, the five tiers and the Tier 5 criteria, enrollment and the cost limit, the services open by tier, the rate method by tier, informed choice of providers, and the Notice of Action and State Fair Hearing.

Where to look: Appendix B-2 (p. 26), B-3-e (p. 29), B-6 (pp. 38 to 40); Care Coordination (p. 47); Assisted Living Services (pp. 56 to 57); Augmented Plan of Care (p. 60); D-1 (pp. 81 to 82); D-2-a (p. 84); F-1 (p. 98); I-2 (pp. 132 to 133).

Open the current ALW waiver (PDF)
California DHCS

Assisted Living Waiver Individual Service Plan Desk Guide (August 2024)

How the tier and the Tier 5 fields fill in on the ISP from the assessment, and how the assessment's findings feed the Assessed Needs and Services section.

Where to look: Individual's Information (pages 5 to 7) and Assessed Needs and Services (pages 17 to 20).

Open the DHCS ISP Desk Guide (PDF)
California DHCS

Assisted Living Waiver program page

The eligibility criteria, room and board paid by the participant, the 2026 maximum payable Assisted Living Services rates by tier with their billing codes, and where ALW grievances go.

Where to look: The Eligibility, HCBS Provider Minimum Wage Increase (the 2026 rate table) and ALW Grievances sections.

Open the DHCS ALW page
California DHCS

The Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) Program: description and eligibility (effective January 1, 2024)

The program description, room and board, the counties, the share-of-cost rule, where Medi-Cal applications go, and how level of care is assessed.

Where to look: The Determining Medi-Cal Eligibility and Determining Level of Care Eligibility sections. Its 2024 dollar amounts are dated.

Open the DHCS ALW description and eligibility sheet (PDF)
Call the ALW teamFit check