The Senate Special Committee on Aging examined the economic benefit of investing in Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS), improving the direct care workers shortage and the caregiver crisis, in a March 9 hearing “Uplifting Families, Workers, and Older Adults: Supporting Communities of Care.”

During the hearing, Committee on Aging Chairman Bob Casey (D-PA), unveiled a new bill, the HCBS Access Act, which includes an expansion of HCBS services to ensure that older adults can receive needed services across the care continuum. The bill also increases the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for HCBS to 100% for states that enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS services.

Additionally, the bill provides $2 million dollars a year for five years for the Administration for Community Living to establish a Technical Assistance Center for building the direct care workforce, and allocates $1 billion dollars, over five years, for Direct Care Workforce Competitive grants.