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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.
This issue brief presents national and state-level analysis of nursing homes based on the Five-Star Quality Rating System, recently updated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help consumers compare nursing homes when selecting one for themselves or their family members. The issue brief finds that more than one-third (36%) of the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes certified by Medicare or Medicaid received relatively low ratings of 1 or 2 stars (out of a possible 5 stars). In 11 states, at least 40 percent of nursing homes in the state have 1- or 2-star ratings. In 23 states, however, at least half of the nursing homes have 4- or 5- star ratings. This issue brief discusses relevant policy considerations regarding nursing home quality—a serious issue in light of the vulnerability of the nursing home population and recent reports of problems arising from inadequate staffing, fire safety hazards, and substandard care.
More than one third of the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes, accounting for 39 percent of all nursing home residents, received relatively low ratings of 1 or 2 stars under the federal government’s recently revamped Five-star Quality Rating System, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Balancing Incentive Program provides enhanced federal matching funds, allowing states to advance their efforts to rebalance Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) spending and expand access to home and community-based services as an alternative to institutional care. This report highlights participating states' efforts to implement the program's three structural requirements and use the enhanced federal funds in support of other Medicaid LTSS rebalancing efforts.
This issue brief analyzes key themes in 19 capitated § 1115 and § 1915(b)/(c) Medicaid managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) waivers approved to date by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with a focus on covered populations and services, provisions aimed at expanding beneficiary access to HCBS, beneficiary protections, and quality measurement and oversight.
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.
This brief profiles four Medicaid long-term services and supports beneficiaries who transitioned back to the community as participants in the Money Follows the Person demonstration program in Maryland or Tennessee.
On August 1, 2013, Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director of the Foundation's Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified
before the Federal Commission on Long-Term Care about ways in which the Medicaid program could be strengthened to better support low-income individuals with long-term services and supports needs.
Frontline Perspectives on Long-Term Care Financing Decisions and Medicaid AssetsTransfer Practices In the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Congress tightened Medicaid asset transfer rules for individuals qualifying for Medicaid assistance with nursing home bills. Research on asset transfer shows a low incidence of asset transfers and limited cost savings from tightening such rules.
Beyond Cash and Counseling: An Inventory of Individual Budget-based Community Long-Term Care Programs This brief describes the evolution of beneficiary-managed home and community-based services since the original demonstration and provides an overview of state activity as of January 2006.
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