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Medicare is a critical source of health insurance coverage for virtually all older women in the U.S. and for many younger women who have permanent disabilities. Today, 22 million women one in five adult women rely on Medicare for basic health insurance protection. In fact, women comprise 57% of the Medicare population. Medicare helps to make health care more affordable for older women at a time in their lives when they are most likely to…
Consumer Direction of Personal Assistance Services Programs in Medicaid: Insights from Enrollees in Four States Medicaid consumer direction of personal assistance services (CD-PAS) is a growing trend. 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. This report is based focus groups with enrollees in CD-PAS programs in the four states…
Vermont's Choices for Care experiment in long-term services, created through a five-year Medicaid waiver in 2005, was designed to increase access to home and community-based services while reducing the use of institutional services and controlling overall costs. In exchange for agreeing to a federal funding cap, Vermont was able to expand access to community-based services and extend some services to a "moderate need" group for the first time to test the theory that early interventions…
These summaries, prepared by Health Policy Alternatives, Inc., provide detailed information about the prescription drug provisions of the Medicare legislation (P.L. 108-173) signed by the President on December 8, 2003. Report (.pdf)
Eighty-one percent of nursing facilities would need to hire additional staff to comply with new nursing staff requirements that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed earlier this month, according to a new analysis from KFF. Under the proposed rule, 19% of nursing facilities would currently meet the minimum staff hours for registered nurses and nurse aides.A smaller share of for-profit facilities would meet the proposed staffing requirements. Compared to 60% of non-profit…
KFF’s Survey of Medicaid Financial Eligibility for Older Adults & People with Disabilities, conducted in March 2026 by KFF and Watts Health Policy Consulting, provides a baseline of Medicaid eligibility ahead of potential changes to the Medicaid program stemming from the 2025 reconciliation law.
Medicaid Has Many Vital Roles in our Health Care System Download
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.
This brief describes Medicaid’s role for nearly 7 million nonelderly adults with disabilities living in the community to help inform the debate about the American Health Care Act’s proposals to end enhanced federal funding under the ACA and reduce federal Medicaid funding under a per capita cap.
On April 21, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final regulations that revise and significantly strengthen existing Medicaid managed care rules. In keeping with states’ increasingly heavy reliance on managed care programs to deliver services to Medicaid beneficiaries, including many with complex care needs, the regulatory framework and new requirements established by the final rule reflect increased federal expectations regarding fundamental aspects of states’ Medicaid managed care programs.
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