In a seemingly off-the cuff television remark, President Trump said he’d protect Medicaid from government spending cuts. Don’t count on it, especially since at nearly the same time, and after dithering for months, Trump endorsed a draft House Republican budget framework that anticipates cuts of as much as nearly $900 billion in Medicaid over the next decade. Supporters of deep [...]
This year, California took the second of two steps to allow residents with unlimited assets to participate in its Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) program. Advocates hoped the move would make the program far more widely available. Conservative critics feared it would become a budget-busting open door for the wealthy to take advantage of a public program. Both were [...]
While many states have expanded their Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) for frail older adults, others continue to steer many enrollees into nursing homes. One big reason: They fear that enhancing home supports will encourage more older adults to enroll in Medicaid long-term care services (LTSS) and increase state costs. But a new study published in the Journal of [...]
The sponsors of the House Republican debt limit bill, the Limit, Save, Grow Act, say its goal is to encourage low-income people to work. But it may have exactly the opposite effect, especially for people with disabilities. And, at the same time, it may throw family caregivers into an impossible situation—having to choose between caring for their loved ones or [...]
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has moved to increase pay for home care aides and others who provide personal care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. It has proposed new rules requiring Medicaid home care agencies to direct at least 80 percent of program payments for personal care services to compensation for care [...]
Critics of Medicaid’s long-term services and supports (LTSS) program often complain that it is so poorly designed that lavishes benefits on wealthy retirees and wastes billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Some people do abuse the system. And they should be stopped. But the real problem with Medicaid LTSS is that in many states its benefits are so paltry that [...]
Soon, California residents with personal care needs will be eligible for Medicaid long-term care no matter how much money and other assets they have. On July 1, the state will increase the program’s asset limit from $2,000 for an individual to $130,000 and from $3,000 for a couple to $195,000. The state plans to end the limit entirely as soon [...]
What would you do if the federal government gave you a chunk of $12 billion to spend on Medicaid home and community-based care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities? That is a real question governors have been wrestling for months. And we now are getting a good sense of the answer: Mostly, they will spend the windfall [...]
President Biden’s proposed massive expansion of Medicaid home-based long-term care is running into trouble in the Senate. And it may be done in, not by hard-core conservatives, but by a small group of self-styled Senate moderates. In his American Jobs Plan, Biden proposed increasing the federal share of Medicaid’s home and community-based services (HCBS) program by $400 billion—the largest increase [...]
The Biden Administration has given the green light for states to begin to tap into about $12 billion in additional funding for Medicaid home-based long-term supports and services. In guidance issued to state Medicaid directors late last week, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted the states broad flexibility in how they use the money. The funds, [...]