Lessons from Maryland's Community First Choice Program

In collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and with support from the Commonwealth Fund, UMBC's Hilltop Institute examined the experience with Maryland’s Community First Choice (CFC) program to highlight lessons for state policymakers, as well as how CFC might inform the development of a new Medicare personal care benefit to help beneficiaries function independently at home. CFC is an optional Medicaid state plan benefit authorized by the Affordable Care Act that enables states to provide personal care services to Medicaid beneficiaries and receive an enhanced federal match of 6 percent for these services. Findings are reported in an issue brief from The Commonwealth fund, an article in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, and a Hilltop data brief.

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