Medicaid

Medicaid Long-Term Care’s Real Problem Is Insufficient Resources, Not Abuse By Wealthy Seniors

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 [...]

By |2022-10-06T09:42:28-04:00October 4th, 2022|Medicaid|0 Comments

California Is Ending Its Asset Test For Medicaid Long-Term Care. Is It A Mistake?

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 [...]

By |2022-03-10T10:12:40-05:00March 10th, 2022|Medicaid|0 Comments

What Are States Doing With New Federal Funding For Medicaid Home-Based Long-Term Care?

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 [...]

By |2021-10-21T09:32:27-04:00October 21st, 2021|Medicaid, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Will Senate Moderates Sink Biden’s Medicaid Home-Based Long-Term Care Plan?

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 [...]

By |2021-05-27T15:38:27-04:00May 27th, 2021|Medicaid|3 Comments

The Biden Administration Greenlights $12 Billion In Federal Medicaid Home Care Money. How Will States Spend It?

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, [...]

By |2021-05-19T09:55:56-04:00May 19th, 2021|Medicaid|14 Comments

Biden Begins An Important, Much-Delayed, National Debate About Long-Term Care Reform

President Biden’s $400 billion plan to expand Medicaid’s home and community based services (HCBS) for people receiving long-term services and supports (LTSS) already has accomplished one major goal: It has policymakers and opinion leaders talking about how we care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. We not had a long-term care conversation like this since Congress created [...]

By |2021-04-08T14:58:50-04:00April 8th, 2021|Joe Biden, long term care reform, Medicaid|1 Comment

Biden Proposes The Biggest Medicaid Home-Based Long-Term Care Expansion In History, But….

In his American Jobs Plan, President Biden has proposed increasing federal support for home-based long-term care by a staggering $400 billion over eight years. A $50 billion annual increase would represent a roughly 40 percent increase in the $129 billion Medicaid spent on long-term care in 2018 and a 70 percent increase in that year’s home and community-based services (HCBS) [...]

By |2021-04-01T10:22:18-04:00April 1st, 2021|Medicaid, Uncategorized|29 Comments

Is The Shift Of Medicaid Long-Term Care From Nursing Facilities To Home About To Accelerate?

The massive pandemic relief bill that the House is likely to approve by the end of this week includes billions of dollars in new funding for government long-term services and supports (LTSS) for frail older adults and young people with disabilities. But, paradoxically, the most far-reaching change may be from a temporary funding increase for Medicaid home and community-based services [...]

By |2021-02-24T15:04:09-05:00February 24th, 2021|Medicaid|8 Comments

Don’t Blame Older Adults For Big Increases In Medicaid Spending

Is the growing need for long-term supports and services (LTSS) by older adults driving big increases in Medicaid spending? Not according to a new study by Don Redfoot and my Urban Institute colleague Melissa Favreault. Indeed, they found that while Medicaid enrollment and expenditures for older adults grew in recent decades, it had far less effect on the program than [...]

By |2018-08-22T19:15:44-04:00August 23rd, 2018|Aging, Medicaid|1 Comment

What Medicaid’s Work Requirement Means For Frail Seniors, People With Disabilities, And Their Caregivers?

The Trump Administration announced last week that it will allow states to require Medicaid recipients to work, take job training, or do community service to stay eligible for the program, which provides both medical and long-term care services for people with low incomes. Ten states have asked to make this change, and the administration has given the greenlight to the [...]

By |2018-02-14T12:43:53-05:00January 19th, 2018|long-term care, Medicaid|0 Comments