1,311-1,320 of 3,652 results

  • State Options to Expand Medicaid HCBS: Examples & Evaluations of Section 1115 Waivers

    Issue Brief

    States are currently developing plans to access an increased federal matching rate (“FMAP”) for Medicaid HCBS spending established in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. In the future, states may also be able to access increased HCBS funds proposed in the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan and the Better Care Better Jobs Act recently introduced in Congress. This brief highlights examples of Medicaid HCBS policy changes authorized through Section 1115 demonstration waivers in…

  • Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Impacts and Vaccinations for Children

    Issue Brief

    COVID-19 has disproportionately negatively affected the physical and mental health, academic growth, and economic security of children of color. At the same time, the limited data available to date suggest some children of color may be less likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, leaving them at elevated risk as the virus continues to spread and as many return to in-person school.

  • Global COVID-19 Vaccine Equity: U.S. Policy Options and Actions to Date

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines U.S. policy options for helping expand global access to COVID-19 vaccines, focusing on four main areas: in-kind donations of vaccine doses, additional funding for global access mechanisms like COVAX, helping expand global vaccine manufacturing, and relaxing or waiving intellectual property protections on vaccine technologies. We summarize what the administration has done to date in these areas and policy issues related to each.

  • As the COVID-19 Pandemic Evolves, Disparities in Cases and Deaths for Black and Hispanic People Have Narrowed

    News Release

    As the COVID-19 pandemic’s focus shifts from urban to rural areas, and more people resume public activities, a new KFF analysis of case and death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals narrower disparities affecting Black and Hispanic people compared to White people now than earlier in the pandemic. The analysis examines trends in cases and deaths since early in the pandemic where race and ethnicity is known. While cumulative data show…

  • Medicare and Telehealth: Coverage and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Options for the Future

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides an overview of changes in coverage of telehealth under traditional Medicare before the coronavirus pandemic, and estimates changes in use of telehealth services using survey data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) during the pandemic. The analysis also discusses issues and questions related to extending telehealth coverage under traditional Medicare beyond the public health emergency.

  • Direct Care Workforce Shortages Have Worsened in Many States During the Pandemic, Hampering Providers of Home and Community-Based Services

    News Release

    During the pandemic many states have experienced worsening direct care workforce shortages that have affected providers of home- and community-based long-term care services (HCBS), according to early findings of a new KFF survey of Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Most states reported workforce shortages as the pandemic’s primary impact on HCBS provided in an enrollee’s home and in group homes. The pandemic has brought new attention among policymakers…

  • Oct. 21 Web Event: Confronting Ageism in Health Care: A Conversation for Patients, Caregivers and Clinicians

    Event Date:
    Event

    The covid pandemic has provided more visibility for longstanding ageist attitudes and practices that run through the health care system, at times undermining the care and well-being of older adults in this country. KFF’s Kaiser Health News and The John A. Hartford Foundation held a 90-minute interactive web event on ageism in health care -- a frank, practical and empowering conversation about this pervasive, systemic problem of bias, discrimination or stereotyping based on age --…