The ARC
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
National Health Law Program
Funding Home Care for Elderly and Disabled
Tuesday, August 4th, is call-in day to push for dedicated funding of home and community-based services (HCBS) in the new COVID-19 relief legislation that is being negotiated in the U.S. Senate. This measure is desperately needed in Texas, where HCBS funding has been greatly reduced during the pandemic, resulting in long delays for individuals...
The Long-Term Care Path from Medicare to Medicaid
Although Congress enacted Medicaid in the 1960s to provide health care coverage for the poor, Medicaid has become the primary pay source for nursing home and long-term care for the vulnerable elderly population. The majority of nursing home residents, or 80%, are age 65 or older and 62% of residents are covered by Medicaid,...
List of Poor-Performing Nursing Homes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released an expanded list of persistently poor-performing nursing homes, including over thirty facilities in Texas. The list includes hundreds of facilities that participate, or are candidates for participation, in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program, designed to increase oversight...
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New Bill Guts Healthcare, Medicaid
A new healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate would cap Medicaid spending per beneficiary, which means the program would no longer be an open-ended entitlement that covers everyone who qualifies for benefits. Medicaid provides crucial funding of costly long-term care services for low-income elderly and disabled beneficiaries - services that Medicare does not cover. The Graham-Cassidy bill would also "repeal and replace" key ACA provisions which ensure individuals, particularly those with a...
Will Trump Dump Medicaid on the States?
How will elder care be affected when Donald Trump becomes president and a Republican-controlled Congress convenes in January? We should prepare for potentially severe budget cuts in Medicaid and other programs affecting seniors and people with disabilities, according to news sources, experts, and advocates.
On his website, the president-elect supports turning Medicaid into a block grant, which could adversely affect elderly and disabled individuals and their families,...