States given until 2022 to meet Medicaid standards of care

(HealthDay)—Federal standards that mean states will need to deliver care to elderly and disabled Medicaid enrollees in home and community-based settings will take effect in 2022, according to a report published by Kaiser Health News.

The standards were set by a rule adopted in 2014 in an effort to improve the quality of care that disabled individuals receive outside of institutions; the rule includes requiring states to provide opportunities for enrollees to engage in community life, control their own money, and seek employment in competitive settings. The rule also aims to ensure more privacy for enrollees in group homes and other residential settings, as well as housing choices that include places where non-disabled individuals live.

Some states had tried to make changes on their own, struggling partly due to lack of funding and political difficulties. The delay in implementation of the rule is important for states that were concerned about losing federal funding if they did not meet the new standards. However, there is concern that the new administration may eventually eliminate the new rule.

"We have long been on record saying that the regulation was hopelessly unrealistic in its time frame," said Matt Salo, from the National Association of Medicaid Directors, according to the report. "Delaying it actually helps consumers because the underlying regulation was going to push too many changes too fast into a system that wasn't ready."

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