A new GLO Discussion Paper shows that the Medicaid Home and Community- Based Services program in the United States is beneficial to improve general health outcomes of older individuals.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 1079, 2022

The Benefits of Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services on Health – Download PDF
by Liu, Yinan & Zai, Xianhua

GLO Affiliate Xianhua Zai

Author Abstract: 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.

Featured image: mark-timberlake-unsplash

JUST PUBLISHED
Vol. 35, Issue 3, July 2022: Journal of Population Economics: 15 articles
https://link.springer.com/journal/148/volumes-and-issues/35-3

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

Ends;