Persons Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid – Legislation Requiring States To Develop Integrated Health Plans

Six U.S. Senators, led by Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA) with Senators Carper (DE), Cornyn (TX), Warner (VA), Scott (SC), and Menendez (NJ) have introduced legislation to require states to develop integrated care plans for persons dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. This is a tremendous initiative with serious study and thinking. AAHD and the Lakeshore Foundation have not been able to endorse the legislation:  “Maybe the greatest unanswered question that we have is the impact and unintended possible disruption of services and supports currently assisting the daily lives of the millions of persons dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid who are served through Medicaid HCBS (home-and-community-based services) programs.” Available here  is the legislative text;. And available here are the March 14 legislative one pager; six Senators press release on introduction of the legislation; legislative section-by-section; legislative text; and the January 22 AAHD and Lakeshore response to the Senators on the legislation: PDF.