State Medicaid directors urge caution on Graham-Cassidy reforms
By
Lois A. Bowers
Sep 22, 2017
The Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act contains “significant challenges” that deserve “thorough discussion, examination and analysis,” the National...
Senators push for Graham-Cassidy bill vote to repeal ACA next week
By
Lois A. Bowers
Sep 19, 2017
Four Republican senators who introduced a bill on Sept. 13 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act are pushing for a Senate vote on it before Sept. 30. As with bills under consideration in the Senate...
CMS changes quality measure set for home- and community-based services
By
Lois A. Bowers
Apr 15, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced changes to the quality measure set for home- and community-based services and described reporting requirements for Money Follows the Person grant...
Save HCBS-related ACA provisions, LeadingAge and other advocacy groups tell Trump
By
Lois A. Bowers
Jan 11, 2017
Improving access to Medicaid home- and community-based services is a critical provision of the Affordable Care Act that has bipartisan support and should remain intact even if the healthcare law is repealed...
$756 billion Medicaid reduction in revised BCRA affected by HCBS pilot projects, CBO says
By
Lois A. Bowers
Jul 20, 2017
A $16 billion difference in Medicaid cuts between a July 20 version of the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act and the June 26 version is due in part to a provision in the revised bill that would...
A divided Congress isn’t all bad news, NCAL executive director says
By
Lois A. Bowers
Oct 14, 2019
There’s some good news associated with the divided Congress that hasn’t accomplished much this year, National Center for Assisted Living Executive Director Scott Tittle said Sunday during NCAL Day.
$25 million expansion adds 5 states and territories to Money Follows the Person program for HCBS
By
Lois A. Bowers
Aug 22, 2022
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will award up to $5 million each to Illinois, Kansas and New Hampshire, as well as for American Samoa...
Report: 4 areas for LTSS financing improvement
By
Lois A. Bowers
Feb 01, 2016
A new report issued by the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center cites four areas in which the financing of long-term services and supports can be improved.
21 states where seniors especially could be at risk if Medicaid funding changes
By
Lois A. Bowers
Jun 14, 2017
States that currently offer relatively low levels of home- and community-based services or where the projected increase in older adults aged 85 or more years is high would be among those especially at...
It’s official: President signs Older Americans Act
By
Lois A. Bowers
Apr 19, 2016
President Barack Obama signed the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act on April 19 after it had passed both chambers of Congress with unanimous support earlier this year.