Of the roughly 2,600 appeal hearings filed over eligibility for the Community Based Adult Services program, only 47 are still to be heard, according to Michael Weston, deputy director of public affairs for the Department of Social Services.

Administrative law judges from the Department of Social Services heard the appeal hearings and then forwarded their opinions to Toby Douglas, director of the Department of Health Care Services, the agency that issued the denials of eligibility. Douglas reviewed each case and made the final ruling on CBAS eligibility.

According to Douglas, about 49% of the appellants were granted eligibility as a result of the appeal.

The appeals were filed starting in March 2012. The exact number of hearings and decisions has been unclear during that process.

According to DSS, a total of 2,604 appeals were filed. Of those, 1,451 were heard and decided, 108 appellants failed to appear, another 747 withdrew their appeal and 249 of the cases were granted eligibility and dismissed. Three dozen hearings are scheduled, 11 have yet to be scheduled and two cases are heard and pending.

Most hearings were held between mid-September and the end of November — with about 200 hearings a week during that time.

The CBAS program was created last year as part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging the state’s elimination of the Adult Day Health Care program as a Medi-Cal benefit for about 36,000 frail, elderly Californians. A major goal of the CBAS program is to keep beneficiaires living at home and not in institutions.