The Senate’s draft budget bill would cut Medicaid for older adults and people with disabilities even more deeply than the House version. It would scrap a Biden-era minimum staffing rule for nursing homes. And, at the same time, it drops a House proposal to increase tax-free savings that higher-income households could use to buy long-term care insurance or pay caregiving [...]
Deregulation has been a cornerstone of the Republican brand for decades. And the Trump Administration vows to cut government red tape wherever it finds it. Yet, House Republicans would use their just-passed budget bill to create reams of paperwork explicitly intended to block low- and moderate income households or immigrants from government assistance to which they are legally entitled. Just [...]
Low-income workers who leave their jobs or reduce their hours to care for aging parents risk losing their own Medicaid benefits, according to a House committee’s budget plan. At the same time, major cuts in projected federal Medicaid funding threaten the ability of states to continue to provide services to low-income seniors and younger people with disabilities. Older adults and [...]
We soon will learn what Congress and the Trump Administration have in store for Medicaid. But while the state/federal program has become a high-profile target, it is widely misunderstood. And so are the consequences of major Medicaid changes for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families. Yes, Medicaid provides medical insurance for low-income working age people and their children. [...]
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 [...]