Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate unveiled legislation, the Better Care Better Jobs Act, yesterday to implement the Biden administration’s goal of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on home-based care in the coming years.
The legislation would give states far more money to invest in and expand home-and-community-based care programs. States would be given $100 million, by no later than one calendar year after enactment of the legislation, to create plans to expand access to Medicaid HCBS and “strengthen” the HCBS workforce.
Over 3.5 million older adults and people with disabilities are currently receiving HCBS.
The bills would “strengthen and expand access to HCBS” by expanding financial eligibility criteria for HCBS to federal limits; requiring coverage for personal care services; expanding supports for family caregivers; adopting programs that help people navigate enrollment and eligibility; expanding access to behavioral health care; improving coordination with housing, transportation, and employment supports; and developing or improving programs to allow working people with
disabilities to access HCBS.
In addition, the bills would “strengthen and expand the HCBS workforce” by addressing HCBS payment rates to promote
recruitment and retention of direct care workers; regularly updating HCBS payment rates with public input; passing rate increases through to direct care workers to increase wages; and updating and developing training opportunities for this workforce as well as family caregivers.
The legislation would permanently authorize protections against impoverishment for individuals whose spouses are receiving Medicaid HCBS and make the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration permanent.
Under the terms of the legislation, states would become eligible for permanent increases to their Medicaid match funds of 10 percentage points, an expansion of the temporary boost provided in the American Rescue Plan. Eligibility could require states to expand HCBS access, help people utilize long-term care options, and provide additional support to family caregivers.
In addition, states would need “to promote recruitment and retention of direct care workers” by “regularly updating HCBS payment rates with public input.” The goal would be to increase compensation and training for workers to better attract and retain a stable direct care workforce.
Regular reporting by states would be required to demonstrate the legislative goals are being met. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would receive additional funding for oversight.
The legislation is sponsored by Senators Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Ron Wyden of Oregon, as well as Debbie Dingell of Michigan; all Democrats and all long-time friends of the home care and hospice community.
Interestingly, the same day the Better Care Better Jobs bills were introduced, President Biden and a bipartisan group of legislators announced a compromise agreement to spend almost $580 billion in new money on the country’s creaky infrastructure. That agreement did not include any funding for long-term care, though President Biden originally called for $400 billion in new spending to be part of the country’s infrastructure investment. Republicans balked at that, saying infrastructure does not include long-term care investments.
With this legislation not included in the bipartisan infrastructure agreement and extremely unlikely to attract support from enough Republicans to pass the Senate, the terms of the Better Care Better Jobs Act could be made into law through the reconciliation process. Many Democrats have signaled determination to use reconciliation to pass elements of Biden’s infrastructure agenda that are not included in the bipartisan agreement reached on Thursday, June 24.
