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Big Week for Money Follows the Person Program

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Last week was particularly good for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Program.  First, the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget included $456 million for MFP, an increase of $191 million for this “demonstration” started in 2005.  Second, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the availability of more than $110 million through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for states and territories not currently in the program.  This expansion will allow for funded states to expand access to home and community-based services (HCBS) to help them in rebalancing their long-term services and supports system so that individuals have a choice of where they live and receive services.  Since the program began, more than $4.06 billion has been used to support older adults and individuals with disabilities to transition from institutional settings such as nursing homes, back to their homes and communities.

C-TAC has been a staunch supporter of HCBS, particularly for those with serious illness, including the Medicaid and Older Americans Act funds for services and eldercare workforce support proposed in the Build Back Better Act.  We support the goal of the MFP program and additional funding is to address the flaw in our long-term care “system” that focuses on paying for long-term care in an institutional setting.  Individuals with serious illnesses must have access to the HCBS they need to stay in the community (or leave a facility to come home).  If those supports and services are lacking, many end up in nursing homes or in and out of emergency rooms and hospitals unnecessarily.

C-TAC continues to be engaged in work to support, expand, and articulate the value of key components of a supports and service model to address a serious illness, from assessment to care plans, to care coordination and ongoing service delivery.  We are working to influence payment models, Medicare, Medicaid, and the private sector to ensure that these components can be implemented to benefit all those with serious illnesses. 

Linked here is a helpful overview of MFP.

Additionally, here is the full CMS announcement.

Written by Brian Lindberg – C-TAC Senior Policy Advisor