The Department of Health and Human Services gave home-and-community-based services (HCBS) a shot in the arm with $110 million in funding to support seniors and people with disabilities. The funding will expand the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Money Follows the Person program, which helps people transition from institutions back into their homes and communities.
The new Notice of Funding Opportunity awards of up to $5 million available to more than 20 states and territories not currently participating in MFP. States can use the funds to start programs and ensure that Medicaid recipients receive the services they need in the setting they choose.
“This funding will bring dignity and peace of mind to even more seniors and people with disabilities across the country,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a press release. “We will continue expanding these programs to ensure all Americans have equitable access to the high-quality health care they deserve — no matter where they live.”
States and territories new to MFP can use the funds to establish partnerships with community stakeholders, develop programs that will help people transition back to their homes and communities, recruit HCBS providers, establish or enhance Medicaid HCBS quality improvement programs and conduct a range of activities necessary to receive CMS approval for the program.
CMS established MFP in 2005 and has provided states more than $4 billion dollars to transition seniors and people with disabilities back into their homes and communities. Former President Donald Trump renewed and extended the program in late 2020, adding spousal impoverishment protections and lowering the institutional residency threshold from 90 days to 60 days.
