Long-Term Care

This data note provides new information about waiting lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services, including a discussion of why waiting lists are an incomplete measure of unmet need and why they are not necessarily comparable across states or over time.

This analysis examines the characteristics of Medicaid enrollees who use Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS), how enrollees who use LTSS differ from those who do not use these services, and how enrollees who use different types of LTSS differ from each other.

This issue brief provides new information about family caregivers from KFF’s most recent survey of state Medicaid HCBS programs, including a discussion of paying family caregivers, self-direction, and supports available for family caregivers.

KFF’s Survey of Medicaid Financial Eligibility for Older Adults & People with Disabilities, conducted in March 2025 by KFF and Watts Health Policy Consulting, provides a baseline of Medicaid eligibility as states return to normal operations after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of potential changes to the Medicaid program.

This page holds an archive of KFF’s regular surveys of states about their Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs and their eligibility policies for people who are eligible for Medicaid on the basis of having a disability or being ages 65 and older (the “non-MAGI” eligibility pathways).

In 2025, many issues are at play that could affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access to care.

This issue brief describes the role that Medicaid plays for children with special health care needs. It explains common eligibility pathways, covered services, and program spending for these children. The Appendix includes 50-state data on the number of children with special health care needs covered by Medicaid/CHIP. A companion brief compares key characteristics of Medicaid/CHIP children with special health care needs to those covered by private insurance.

To increase understanding of how shifting immigration policies may affect the direct care workforce providing long-term care services, this data note uses the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) to provide an overview of the role that immigrants play in the direct care workforce for long-term care (LTC) services

The substantial Medicaid savings in the reconciliation bill that has been passed by the House could have major implications for nearly 15,000 federally certified nursing facilities and the 1.2 million people living in them. Nursing facilities provide medical and personal care services for older adults and people with disabilities, and Medicaid covered 44% of long-term institutional care costs in 2023.

The Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation language would reduce existing state-directed payments to hospitals and nursing facilities over time until they are at or slightly above Medicare rates.  This analysis identifies states that might have to reduce payment rates for hospitals or nursing facilities if the language is passed into law.