During the COVID-19 public health emergency, states received approval from the federal government to implement many flexibilities within their home and community-based services programs to ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries were able to receive needed services during the pandemic. Most states have decided to sustain at least one of these flexibilities. For example, at least 23 states have decided to extend Medicaid payments to parents, spouses, and legally responsible individuals, while 22 states plan to sustain increased payment rates for direct care workers. Other states plan to sustain flexibilities in service planning — fully 16 states plan to continue to offer remote or virtual options for conducting evaluations, assessments, and person-centered planning meetings.   

This one-hour webinar features representatives of three states that have decided to sustain key flexibilities. We discuss why they decided to sustain the flexibilities — and how they plan to manage and fund them going forward.