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Presentations from the 2015 National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference.

Presentations from the 2016 National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference.

While faced with new challenges, reduced budgets, and growing populations requiring more services, states are stronger than ever, and the work they do is more effective than ever in reaching individuals and addressing their needs. The National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference 2017 highlights these achievements, allowing states to share best practices, present unique partnerships, and recognize the work of their peers.

The Community Living Policy Center reviewed the effects of the Better care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) should it pass. Upon review, they conclude that had it been implemented in the mid-2000s then it would have reduced Federal reimbursments becuase of the proposed caps.

University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the University of North Carolina NC Rural Health Research Program (NC RHRP) studies the effects of Medicaid on rural areas and small towns as opposed to dense metropolitan areas. Since the implementation of the ACA, those who are covered by insurance have noticeably increased the number of Americans who are insured.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation released an issue brief reviewing the national and state-level Medicaid Advantage enrollment trends as of March 2015. It was believed that the reductions in payments to Medicare Advantage plans would reduce enrollments, but it has actually increased by 5.6 million. One key finding showed that "Almost one in three (31%) of people on Medicare (16.8 million beneficiaries) were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan in March 2015."

The UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization released a new brief. Many Americans do not have health insurance coverage, and Medicaid enrollment can cover the gap of the uninsured, if successful practices are used. This brief highlights four approaches used in Kentucky and Arkansas to increase enrollment for low-income residents to cut their uninsured populations in half. The solutions in this brief can inform other states on efforts to decrease the number of uninsured people.

For Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income recipients who are not capable of managing their own benefit payments, the Social Security Administration (SSA) pays benefits to a representative payee. The authors estimate that the demand for representative payees will increase from 2.94 million beneficiaries in 2013 to 3.27 million by 2025 and to 3.56 million by 2035.

Research from the AARP Public Policy Institute/Urban Institute shows the uninsured rates for 50- to 64- year-olds dropped 31% between December 2013 and December 2014. In states that expanded their Medicaid programs, the drops were greater. The analysis uses preliminary data from the second open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act.

This is one in a series of annual reports on participation in the Medicaid Buy-In program. It provides updates on both national- and state-level trends in enrollment, employment, and earnings among the 35 reporting Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) states with a Buy-In program in 2011. Additionally, it addresses recent changes to state program rules and policies, and identifies factors that have affected recent Buy-In program enrollment, as reported by the states in an annual questionnaire.