The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday that it will distribute an additional $25 million to expand access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) through Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) program.
The $25 million will be going to new states and territories, increasing the total number of states and territories participating in MFP to 41.
Up to $5 million will be designated for three states each: Illinois, Kansas and New Hampshire.
The additional $10 million will be sent to American Samoa and Puerto Rico, marking the first time MFP grants have been made available to territories.
“We’re putting the full weight of this agency behind solutions that can meet people where they are and help get them to where they want to be when it comes to health care,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a press release. “Money Follows the Person has a proven track record of helping seniors and people with disabilities transition safely from institutional care to their own homes and communities. Letting ‘money follow the person’ is key to those successes, and to the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to affordable, accessible, person-centered care.”
The goal of the MFP program is to increase the use of HCBS while allowing seniors to have more control over where they receive long-term care.
The program has provided states with over $4 billion for people who choose to transition out of institutions and back into their homes and communities.
The $25 million will be used to establish partnerships with community stakeholders in the five areas. It will also help develop community transition programs and recruit HCBS providers.
A new report from CMS showed that MFP has helped facilitate more than 107,000 transitions out of institutional settings since 2008.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is deeply committed to ensuring everyone is able to get the high-quality care they need – within the comfort of their own home or community,” Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a press release. “Today we are expanding access to home and community-based services so even more states and territories are equipped to best serve the millions of seniors and people with disabilities across the country.”
In March, CMS doled out $110 million to 20 new states for further expansion of MFP.
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