Updates to Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports & Section 1915(c) Data Reports

Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) Report

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports Beneficiaries 2012 report which provides updated estimates of the number of people who receive Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS).  Over 4.8 million people received Medicaid-funded LTSS during calendar year 2012, maintaining a three year level. Most LTSS beneficiaries (3.4 million or 70 percent) received home and community-based services (HCBS), including people who also received institutional services during the year.  Fifty-five percent of beneficiaries were under age 65, including children and youth under age 21 (16 percent) and people age 21 through 64 (39 percent).  Older adults comprised 45 percent of beneficiaries.  For each age group, a majority of people received HCBS, but older adults were less likely to receive HCBS than people under age 65.   

For the full report, visit: https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/ltss/reports-and-evaluations/index.html.  

Section 1915(c) Data Reports:

CMS also posted annual updates to two reports that describe recent section 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver program data.  Medicaid 1915(c) Waiver Data Based on the CMS 372 Report, 2012 - 2013 identifies the number of people who received HCBS waiver program services, and Medicaid expenditures and duration of service for participants during 2012 and 2013.  The other report, Medicaid Expenditures for Section 1915(c) Waiver Programs in FY 2014, provides data and trends regarding waiver expenditures.  Both reports presents data for each 1915(c) waiver program as well as state and national totals.  Key findings include:   Over 1.5 million people received 1915(c) HCBS waiver program services in 2013, a 3.8 percent increase from 2012. The average waiver program participant received services for most of the year, an average of 10.1 months.  Average annual waiver program expenditures per person were $26,478; this figure is 74 percent of average total Medicaid spending ($35,666) for individuals meeting an institutional level of care. Total 1915(c) HCBS waiver program expenditures have grown by less than five percent each year from FY 2011 through FY 2014, compared to double-digit average percentage increases from FY 1996 through FY 2010.  1915(c) HCBS waiver programs accounted for a lower percentage of all Medicaid home and community-based services, 51%, than in any year since FY 1995, as some states closed their 1915(c) waiver programs and covered HCBS within state plan benefits such as personal care, home health, and Community First Choice as well as through Managed LTSS.    

For the full reports, visit: https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/ltss/reports-and-evaluations/index.html.