Home Health & Hospice Week

GAO notes states' increase in home care options.The Affordable Care Act appears to be do-ing its job when it comes to encouraging Medicaid use of home care. So suggests a new Government Accountability Office report.The ACA established two new Medicaid home care programs with financial incentives: the Community First Choice and Balancing Incentive Program. And the health care reform law revised two existing programs -- Money Follows the Person and the 1915(i) state plan option.As of this April, 13 more states had received $621 million in Money Follows the Person grants, the report notes. One state had applied for Commun-ity First Choice, four had applied for BIP, and three states received approval from the Centers for Med-icare & Medicaid Services to offer the revised 1915(i) option.Stay tuned: The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the ACA. But you may still see some of the options available under the law dismantled if its [...]