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Long-term care (LTC) in the United States has evolved over the course of the last century to better serve the needs of seniors and person with disabilities. This long-term care timeline outlines the major milestones in LTC from the nursing home era, which created an institutional bias in LTC, to the era of home and community based services (HCBS) and integration, and into the era of health reform and beyond.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, states have taken a number of Medicaid policy actions to address the impact on seniors and people with disabilities, many of whom rely on long-term services and supports (LTSS) to meet daily needs and are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes if infected with coronavirus.
Since 2008, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has periodically surveyed state Money Follows the Person (MFP) programs, conducted state case studies, and profiled the experiences of individual MFP beneficiaries. Based on the information and data collected in our six surveys, we identify some lessons learned from MFP that could inform future Medicaid long-term services and supports rebalancing policies.
Medicaid, the main health insurance program for low-income people and the single largest source of public coverage in the U.S., turns 50 this year. In that time, it has grown to cover nearly 70 million Americans and become a key source of financing for safety net hospitals and health centers, as well as the main source of coverage and financing of long-term care. The program continues to be a focus of policy debate and partisan…
Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration has helped seniors and people with disabilities move from institutions to the community by providing enhanced federal matching funds to states since 2007. The program operates in 44 states and has served over 90,000 people as of June 2018. The program is credited with helping many states establish formal institution to community transition programs that did not previously exist by enabling them to develop the necessary service and…
State policy choices about Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) shape these benefits in important ways for the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on them to live independently in the community. This issue brief presents the latest data from the KFF's annual survey of Medicaid HCBS program policies in all 50 states and DC.
For 15 years, KCMU and HMA have conducted annual surveys of Medicaid programs across the country. The NAMD has formally collaborated on this project since 2014. This brief provides a look back at the enrollment and spending trends as well as the multitude of policy actions taken by states across key areas: eligibility and application processes; provider rates and taxes; benefits, pharmacy and long-term care since as well as highlighting more recent data on managed…
As the Biden Administration takes office, the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic and related economic downturn are the key issues that will substantially shape Medicaid coverage and financing policy in the year ahead.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care facilities declined markedly in May and June after the novel coronavirus swept through nursing homes in April, but recent data show the incidence may be on the rise again, according to a new KFF analysis. A second new analysis from KFF examines the impact of COVID-19 on assisted living facilities, a type of long-term care facility that, unlike nursing homes, is not federally regulated,…
This issue brief describes the share of dual-eligible individuals with full Medicaid benefits who use wraparound services, including institutional LTSS, home- and community-based services (HCBS), vision services, dental care, and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT); and how use of these services varies by state and select demographic characteristics of enrollees.
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