Long-Term Care

In a new analysis, KFF researchers find that COVID-19 vaccination rates among nursing home staff increased by 25 percentage points nationally (63% to 88%) from when the Biden administration announced the vaccine mandate for health care workers in August 2021 to after vaccination deadlines passed in March 2022. Researchers analyzed…

This analysis uses nursing facility-level data reported by the federal government to track the increase in vaccination rates among nursing facility staff nationally and by state between August 2021 (when the vaccine mandate was first announced) and March 27th, 2022 (after the vaccine deadline for health workers had passed in all states). Additionally, this analysis provides state-level information on booster rates among nursing home staff and the prevalence of staffing shortages after all vaccination deadlines had passed.

This issue brief summarizes federal and state standards related to nursing home staffing prior to COVID-19 and builds on existing information by identifying changes to state minimum staffing requirements adopted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examine state legislative and regulatory actions since the onset of the pandemic that directly affect worker wages and training requirements.

Against the backdrop of public concern about inflation and rising gas prices, proposals to lower what people pay out-of-pocket for drugs tops the public’s list of health care priorities for Congress, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. Most (55%) of the public say inflation is the biggest problem facing…

This poll finds the public’s health care priorities for Congress focus on reducing out-of-pocket costs, and concerns over inflation and the economy are top of mind as voters begin to think about the November midterm elections. The poll also examines views of the ACA and nursing homes.

The federal government and the states together spent a total of $116 billion on Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) in FY 2020, serving millions of elderly adults and people with disabilities, a new KFF analysis finds. Medicaid is the nation’s primary payer for such services, which include assistive technology,…

This issue brief presents findings on key state policy choices about Medicaid HCBS in FY 2020. This is the latest data available, and the first since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected in KFF’s 19th survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC. A related brief presents the latest state-level data about the number of people receiving HCBS and HCBS spending

This issue brief presents FY 2020 state-level data on the number of people receiving Medicaid HCBS and HCBS spending. This is the latest data available, and the first since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected in KFF’s 19th survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC. A related brief presents the latest data and highlights themes in key state policy choices about optional HCBS.

This data note analyzes federal nursing home data as of January 2nd, 2022 to determine the impact of the pandemic on COVID-19 cases and deaths among staff and residents, amid the recent surge of national cases due to the Omicron variant.

As 2022 kicks off, a number of issues are at play that could affect coverage and financing under Medicaid. This issue brief examines key issues to watch in Medicaid in the year ahead.