The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
This fact sheet describes how seniors qualify for Medicaid long term services and supports (LTSS), what LTSS covers, how much Medicaid spends on LTSS, and current policy issues.
Medicaid coverage of acute and long-term care for more than 6 million low-income seniors and 10 million nonelderly people with disabilities accounts for nearly two-thirds of overall Medicaid spending, although such enrollees represent less than a quarter of people on Medicaid.
Asset Transfer and Nursing Home Use This issue brief examines asset transfer data of elderly nursing home residents and finds that for those who qualify for Medicaid, their average asset transfer are small, sufficient to cover about one month of private nursing home care. Issue Brief (.
This report examines the structure and impact of Medicaid’s role in long-term care. Based on a roundtable discussion of policy makers and experts and drawn from a body of health services research, the report highlights policy challenges facing the Medicaid program today and identifies issues in providing long-term care going forward.
These three reports examine the relatively high use of hospital and other Medicare-covered services and the associated costs of medical care for Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities. They also explore the potential for delivery system reforms to improve quality and reduce costs.
This tutorial was produced for kaiserEDU.org, a Kaiser Family Foundation website that ceased production in September 2013. The kaiserEDU.org tutorials are no longer being updated but have been made available on kff.org due to demand by professors who are using the tutorials in class assignments. You may search for other tutorials to view on kff.org.
Long-Term Care Costs Can Exceed Seniors’ Income Download Source MetLife Mature Market Institute. The 2012 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs, November 2012, available at: https://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/2012-market-survey-long-term-care-costs.html#keyfindings; U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2012 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Table POV01.
States’ Participation in Six Key Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports Options Provided or Enhanced by the Affordable Care Act Download Source M. O’Malley Watts, M. Musumeci, and E. Reaves, How is the Affordable Care Act Leading to Changes in Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Today? State Adoption of Six LTSS Options, The Henry J.
To help inform the ongoing debate, KFF conducted four focus groups in July and August 2021 with direct care workers and unpaid caregivers who provide HCBS, assisting seniors and people with disabilities with daily self-care and household activities. These focus groups are not necessarily generalizable to all caregivers, but can provide insight into their experiences to help inform current policy debates.
This data note provides detailed state-level data on numbers and shares of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. This data note also provides information on state variation in LTC facility cases/deaths reporting patterns.
© 2025 KFF