End of pandemic-era payments to family caregivers could complicate workforce shortages
By
Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Sep 20, 2023
During the pandemic, most states allowed some form of payment to family caregivers whose loved ones were receiving Medicaid home- and community-based services. As those payments dry up, workforce shortages...
Worker shortages, waiting list inaccuracies complicate HCBS programs
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Nov 30, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on fundamental, long-term challenges for state Medicaid home- and community-based services programs, but it also provided opportunities for change, according to a...
State compliance status could affect assisted living providers that provide HCBS
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Dec 20, 2023
Assisted living operators that provide home- and community-based services to residents who are Medicaid beneficiaries could be affected as states continue to come into compliance with the provisions of...
Senators urge Biden to pursue plans to invest in Medicaid HCBS
By
Joe Jancsurak
Feb 08, 2021
Several U.S. senators encouraged the administration to fulfill its campaign pledge to invest $450 billion in Medicaid home- and community-based care. In a Friday letter to President Biden and Vice President...
HCBS enrollment up but expenditures per participant down
By
Lois A. Bowers
Jan 29, 2018
The number of participants and overall expenditures for state Medicaid 1915(c) waiver programs increased from 2013 to 2014, but average expenditure per participant decreased during that time, according...
CMS proposes ‘universal’ quality measures to ease provider burden, confusion
By
Lois A. Bowers
Feb 06, 2023
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services leaders are proposing the creation of a “universal foundation” of quality measures to reduce the reporting burden and confusion for providers and better align...
HCBS providers face more serious challenges ahead than institutional providers: report
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Sep 21, 2022
Expanding the availability and quality of long-term services and supports will continue to be a focus for policymakers as individual preferences and state requirements shift from institutional settings...
CMS issues guidance to states on how to use enhanced Medicaid HCBS funding from stimulus package
By
Liza Berger
May 14, 2021
States can only use enhanced Medicaid funds from the recently passed $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package to strengthen their home- and community-based services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Study shows far fewer COVID-19 cases at home than in nursing homes, assisted living
By
Joe Jancsurak
Dec 10, 2020
The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths for home- and community-based services programs pales in comparison with those for nursing homes, concludes a recent study in the JAMDA, Journal of Post-Acute and...
Pilot program works to develop HCBS quality measures that reflect beneficiary preferences
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Feb 05, 2024
Decisions about funding, service provision and policy when it comes to Medicaid home- and community-based services may not always reflect the needs of the people it affects most, particularly older adults...