Home Health & Hospice Week

Especially during COVID, benes want to stay at home.

Medicaid home care providers and their patients have gotten some good news.

“States … now have an additional year — through March 31, 2025 — to use funding made available by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to enhance, expand, and strengthen home-and community-based services (HCBS),” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in a release.

“Thanks to extended funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, we are expanding home- and community-based services for millions of aging Americans and people with disabilities across the country,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says in the release about the extension. “We are working hand-in-hand with states to ensure they have the time and support they need to strengthen their home care systems and workforce,” Becerra says.

“These additional funds will help people with Medicaid to live and thrive in the setting of their choice,” CMS Adminis­trator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says in the release. “With this extension, we are addressing states’ concerns, giving states the time and resources to strengthen connections to care at home and in communities.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the risks of institutional and congregate settings for older Americans and people with disabilities, underscoring the urgent need to expand access to high-quality HCBS to improve outcomes for people who need long-term services and supports,” CMS says. “HCBS allow millions of Medicaid beneficiaries to receive services in their own home or community rather than institutions or other isolated settings.”

The State Medicaid Director Letter announcing the extension is at www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/smd22002.pdf.