Medicaid

This fact sheet was developed as part of the Center’s Helping States Support Families Caring for an Aging America initiative. Six states – Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia- are involved with the initiative. This fact sheet provides an overview of unpaid family caregiving and lists options state leaders can consider implementing in order to support family caregivers in their state.

The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services released a report that profiled the 10 states with the greatest change in Long-Term Services and Support (LTSS) system balancing. The report highlights characteristics of the 10 states and compares their change in LTSS system balancing with other states and provides a national overview on LTSS system balancing. State profiles consist of characteristics and strategies states utilized in their progress towards rebalancing their LTSS systems.

CMS released a bulletin addressing frequently asked questions regarding Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) requirements to beneficiaries receiving in-home care. This bulletin responds to questions surrounding beneficiaries with live-in caregivers, services delivered partially in the beneficiary's home, the provision of medical supplies, equipment, and appliances as a component of the Medicaid home health benefit, and the use of web-based timesheets as an EVV method.

In 2021, under a recently released rule from CMS, D-SNPs will be required to notify the state or state’s designee when enrollees experience Medicare-covered hospital or skilled nursing facility admissions in order to ensure timely transitions of care. The Integrated Care Resource Center has released a brief that examines approaches from three states – Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee – to develop and implement information-sharing processes for their D-SNPs that support care transitions.

CMS has released a notice with information about the process for states to apply for a “good faith effort” (GFE) exemption, which provides up to one year of extra time to come into compliance with Electronic Visit Verification.

The Leavitt Partners released a report reviewing the Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit, focusing on the program integrity of the benefit. . The report examines challenges and opportunities for Medicaid directors in improving Medicaid NEMT program integrity.

The AARP Public Policy Institute released a report outlining the recent changes to supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage. The report explains the major changes in benefits present in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

CMS provided the president and Congress a report detailing the center’s action plan to provide support and technical assistance to states delivering supports to Medicaid beneficiaries with substance use disorder (SUD). The report outlines how CMS plans to implement requirements of Section 1018(a) of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act in 2020-2021.

ACL, CMS, and the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) have released a Q&A document to help grantees, stakeholders, and self-advocates better understand the Medicaid buy-in program. The Medicaid buy-in program includes Medicaid eligibility groups that serve workers with disabilities who are earning income and whom states may charge premiums as a condition of Medicaid eligibility.

This new report from ASPE and HUD examines the Support And Services at Home (SASH) program from 2010-2016. The SASH program uses affordable housing properties as a method for delivering services to older adults and individuals with disabilities living in Vermont. The study used a mixed-methods evaluation to examine the effects of the SASH program on health care utilization outcomes, Medicaid expenditures, and Medicare expansion.