Medicaid

The 50-state annual survey of budget conditions and Medicaid cost containment actions in FY2005-06 shows that all states implemented and planned more Medicaid cost-containment actions, but are also implementing expansions as the gap between Medicaid spending growth and state tax revenue narrowed.

This web site will help individuals who receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits, known as dual eligibles, their families and caregivers, and advocates for people with disabilities understand the new Medicare prescription drug coverage, called Part D. Part of the Medicaid Reference Desk, this web-tool also offers a timeline of key dates, a glossary of terms, information for making coverage decisions and tools for plan comparisons.

The majority of public funding in the US for home and community-based care comes from Medicaid. Yet we know relatively little about how and in what ways Medicaid HCBS waiver programs support family caregivers or how such waiver services coordinate with other federal or state-funded caregiver programs. This descriptive study is the first to characterize and analyze the role of Medicaid HCBS waiver programs in supporting family and informal caregivers of frail elders and adults with disabilities.

This report provides the latest national and state data on Medicaid enrollment and spending for individuals enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, also known as dual eligibles. Nationally, there are 7.5 million dual eligibles and while they comprise 14 percent of the Medicaid population, they account for 40 percent of Medicaid spending.

On September 1, 2005, The Bush administration's Medicaid Commission released its recommendations for reducing the growth in Medicaid spending by $11 billion over the next five years. The report provides a history and overview of the program, explains the purpose of the commission, and offers six recommendations for savings.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated and improved the Medicaid Benefits Online Database, an interactive tool providing easy access to information on services provided by each state's Medicaid program. This site contains Medicaid Benefits survey data from 2003 and 2004 with information about benefits covered, limits, co-payments and reimbursement methodologies for the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Territories.

This memo is from Gale Arden, Director of the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group. The letter offers clarity on the changes brought about by the Medicare Modernization Act and prescription drugs for persons who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligibles).

This event sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund gathered former Medicare and Medicaid and other health policy experts to mark the 40th anniversary of these two health care programs. Also shown at the briefing was a new documentary, Medicare and Medicaid at 40, about the history, politics and impact of Medicare and Medicaid that included perspectives from people involved in the original 1965 debate and implementation of the programs.

CMS recently hosted a teleconference to provide an overview of the recently released draft 1915 (c) Medicaid Waiver Application. The presentation offered information on the development of the application including incorporation of comments from states; the protocol for use of the application in its draft form; design and development of the web based application including plans for Beta testing; information on CMS training events and the roll out plan which includes an evaluation component.

Over the last four years, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has been tracking the national development of the three main Medicaid HCBS programs that states can operate: (1) optional 1915(c) HCBS waivers, (2) the mandatory home health benefit, and (3) the optional state plan personal care services benefit. This brief presents expenditures and participant data on all three Medicaid HCBS programs and findings from the survey of policies on 1915(c) waivers.