“CMS releases first-ever quality measures for home- and community-based services”

“CMS releases first-ever quality measures for home- and community-based services,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living 

Quote:

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Thursday said it is releasing its first-ever home- and community-based services quality measure set in an effort to promote consistent quality measurement within and across state Medicaid HCBS programs. … Nationally, more than seven million people receive HCBS under Medicaid, and Medicaid-funded HCBS accounts for $125 billion annually in state and federal spending, the agency said.

Forty-eight percent of all US assisted living communities are Medicaid-certified, according to the National Center for Assisted Living. More than 16% of assisted living residents rely on Medicaid to pay for daily services. … Read more about the quality measures, including industry reaction, here.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

CMS spent decades telling us HCBS would save money and give Medicaid recipients the kind of care they prefer. But only now is the agency asking about care quality.