HCBS Waivers

This Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that 656,000 people nationwide were on state waiting lists for home and community-based services financed through Medicaid waivers in 2021. This new data is among the latest set of findings from the 20th KFF survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and Washington, DC.

In support of technical assistance to Idaho, the NCAPPS team prepared a Person-Centered Planning Facilitation Report which explores the experience of states that have specifically included plan facilitators in their HCBS waivers – including the circumstance under which the states deploy plan facilitators, the rates paid to facilitators, and the training requirements.

This compendium includes select information on waiver capacity and waiting list management. The compendium highlights over 200 approved Section 1915(c) and Section 1115 waivers across all 50 states and DC. As an accompaniment to this compendium, MACPAC has also released an issue brief. This issue brief includes a description of the waiver analysis conducted in the compendium. It also features information from stakeholder interviews.

This report from Truven Health Analytics describes section 1915(c) home and community based services waiver programs. Over 1.6 million people received section 1915(c) waiver services in 2014; this is a 5 percent increase from 1.5 million in 2013. Furthermore, the number of section 1915(c) waiver participants has increased by an average of 4 percent per year since 2009. Participants received services for an average of 10 months in 2014, as in previous years.

The Milbank Memorial Fund’s Reforming States Group, with the New York State Health Foundation, published an issue brief that is a practical guide for policymakers who want to know when and how states can use Medicaid to facilitate access to social services. It offers a road map of the legal authorities upon which policymakers can rely to extend Medicaid coverage to social interventions and provides examples of how Medicaid can be an important component in improving the health of populations.