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This data note examines state-level data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care facilities through June prior to the recent rise in cases and deaths nationally linked to the spread of the Delta variant. It finds long-term care deaths down 96% from their peak in December as the nation's vaccination effort began.
President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden hold widely divergent views on health issues, with the president’s record and response to the coronavirus pandemic likely to play a central role in November’s elections. A new KFF side-by-side comparison examines President Trump’s record and former Vice President Biden’s positions across a wide range of key health issues, including the response to the pandemic, the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicaid, Medicare, drug prices, reproductive health, HIV, mental…
This report provides an in-depth examination of the changes taking place in Medicaid programs across the country. Report findings are drawn from the annual budget survey of Medicaid officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Health Management Associates (HMA), in collaboration with the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD). This report examines the reforms, policy changes, and initiatives that occurred in FY 2017 and…
Managed care organizations (MCOs) cover nearly two-thirds of all Medicaid beneficiaries nationwide, making managed care the nation’s dominant delivery system for Medicaid enrollees. As the entities responsible for providing comprehensive Medicaid benefits to enrollees by contracting with providers, managed care plans play a critical role in shaping access to care for Medicaid enrollees. Many plan actions are dictated by state policy or contracting requirements; however, plans also have some flexibility to design payment and delivery…
Women and Medicare: Making the Connection This briefing examines Medicare s role in meeting older women's health needs, the gaps in Medicare's benefits package for women, and the emerging debate over prescription drug coverage and Medicare reform.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed two models to align Medicare and Medicaid benefits and financing for dual eligible beneficiaries, one capitated model and one managed fee-for-service model. In the spring of 2012, 26 states submitted proposals to CMS seeking to test one or both of these models. CMS is presently reviewing the states' proposals to determine which will be implemented. This background paper examines the contents of the 26 states'…
With a shift towards providing long-term services and supports in the community, policy interest in Medicaid consumer direction of personal assistance services (CD-PAS) has grown. Although overall enrollment in these programs is small, 42 states offered consumer direction in Medicaid in 2006. These programs allow Medicaid beneficiaries control over hiring, scheduling, training and paying of personal care attendants. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has produced two new reports examining Medicaid’s…
Based on a new KFF analysis, fewer than 1 in 5 (19%) nursing facilities currently meet the minimum staffing standards set out in the final requirements of the federal rule released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS adopted staffing standards that are similar to the staffing requirements in the rule proposed last year, which included minimum staff levels of 0.55 registered nurses and 2.45 nurse aide hours per resident day.…
This analysis discusses the provisions of the final rule, including changes made by the Administration from the proposed rule, and examines the percentage and characteristics of nursing facilities that currently meet the minimum staffing requirements in the final rule, which takes effect beginning in May 2026 for some facilities.
This data note provides new information about waiting lists from KFF’s most recent survey of state Medicaid HCBS programs, 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.
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