The Benefits of Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services on Health

The Medicaid Home and Community- Based Services (HCBS) program in the
United States subsidizes the long-term care provided at home or in community-based
settings for older adults. Little is known about how HCBS affects the well-being of
the aging population. Using detailed information about health from the Health and
Retirement Study (HRS) linked with state-level HCBS policy expenditures, we show
that HCBS is beneficial to improve general health outcomes of older individuals. Our
results find that HCBS generosity is positively associated with the probability of
older individuals self-reporting better health status, mitigating functional mobility
limitations, showing better emotional feelings, and increasing cognitive skills. In
addition, these health benefits of HCBS differ across groups by resources and
demographic characteristics.