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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.
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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 paper updates the July 1999 report and provides a general overview of federal Medicaid eligibility policy for the low-income disabled population. This paper focuses on four broad groups of individuals with disabilities: children under 18; adults under 65 who are not living in institutions; adults under 65 who are living in institutions; and adults under 65 who are also eligible for Medicare. In addition, this paper includes the new eligibility options offered under…
Characteristics of Women Family Caregivers Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation, 2008 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey
This analysis provides insight into trends related to cases and deaths in long-term care facilities due to COVID-19. This piece provides state-level data on cumulative cases and deaths in long-term care facilities over time, trends of new LTC cases and deaths per week, and comparisons to national trends in cases and deaths.
Asset Transfer and Nursing Home Use: Empirical Evidence and Policy Significance Due to concern that wealthy elderly Americans were transferring assets to gain Medicaid coverage for nursing home care, the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 tightened Medicaid eligibility rules related to asset transfers. About 43 percent of all nursing home residents eventually become Medicaid eligible. This brief concludes that for people becoming Medicaid eligible at the time of nursing home admission, 50 percent had…
This paper provides an overview of the joint efforts of states and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop more integrated ways of paying for and delivering health care to the 9 million people who are eligible for both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Dual eligible beneficiaries comprise many of the poorest and sickest people covered by either program, and they account for a disproportionately large share of Medicare and Medicaid spending.…
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 report features nine seniors and people with disabilities living in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee, who rely on home and community-based services (HCBS). These profiles illustrate how beneficiaries’ finances, employment status, relationships, well-being, independence, and ability to interact with the communities in which they live---in addition to their health care---are affected by their Medicaid coverage and the essential role of HCBS in their daily lives.
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. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 gives states the option to use this model for an expanded range of home and community based services in their state Medicaid plans without having to obtain a waiver. Issue…
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.
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