Our tax experts discuss how increased funding for home care services may impact state Medicaid costs.
Many states are now expanding home-based and community-based services for Medicaid recipients. Still, many other states are reluctant to expand these state-level Medicaid home health services.
Critics of the expansion of Medicaid home health services believe that expanding these programs would encourage more individuals to enroll in Medicaid for long-term care coverage, and that these states would implement Medicaid programs. It claims that the total cost will increase.
We Asked Two ALM Authors and Professors tax facts People with opposing political views shared their views on how increased Medicaid funding for home care services could impact overall Medicaid costs in each state.
Below is a summary of the discussion between the two professors.
Their vote:
Their reason:
Barnes: It seems logical to assume that if Medicaid expands home health care coverage, more older Americans will be motivated to undertake a wealth-building strategy to qualify for Medicaid. . It would be logical to assume that expanding this kind of funding would lead to more older Americans using government-based aged care services, which would, of course, increase the overall cost of the program. Become.
Bink: There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that increasing government funding for home care will increase Medicaid enrollment or the overall cost of the Medicaid program. In fact, because of the low cost of home health care for older adults in the United States, there is evidence to suggest that expanding the overall home health care program would actually reduce the cost of the entire US Medicaid program.
Barnes: Expanding Medicaid’s home care program is no way to combat the ever-increasing costs of long-term care in this country. We Should Focus on the Root Cause: Rising Costs of Care in Nursing Homes in the United States Many Americans have no choice but to focus on Medicaid entitlements as the only way to fund caregiving. We need to pay attention to the need for higher quality services at lower prices.
Bink: Many Medicaid recipients go to nursing homes because they have no other viable options for meeting their long-term care needs. Of course, home care is significantly cheaper than nursing home care. Increased funding will have a net positive effect by allowing more Medicaid recipients to stay home longer. It should be encouraged as a way to reduce the burden on long-term care facilities in this country.
Barnes: Focusing on increasing government funding for yet another program is not the way to solve the problems facing aged care in America. The more money we put into these programs, the more money goes to programs that fail to solve the larger problem of high long-term care costs for America’s elderly.
Bink: Medicaid eligibility is based on a rigorous, means-based test. It is simply not logical to think that more Americans will try to use up their hard-earned assets to qualify for Medicaid home health insurance services. The motivating factor here is the need for care. Americans who can afford to purchase these services on the private market will face no further incentive to move into the public Medicaid arena.
Yes, more people could receive home care services if these programs were expanded. However, most of these people are already enrolled in Medicaid and are actually at greater risk of needing nursing home care because they lack access to low-cost medical services. – Home service.
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