Medicaid's Long-Term Care Beneficiaries

Anna S. Sommers, Mindy Cohen, Molly O'Malley

This brief examines Medicaid beneficiaries who receive long-term care services using data from the Medicaid Statistical Information Summary files. Medicaid long-term care users accounted for 7 percent of the Medicaid population in 2002 but over half of total program spending. Three-quarters of these dollars were spent on long-term care and 25 percent were spent on acute care and supportive services. About 55 percent of long-term care spenders were elderly and 34 percent were nonelderly disabled individuals. Children and adults not deemed disabled but using long-term services are a unique population whose medical needs should be assessed in light of recent DRA-related Medicaid changes. (Available from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.)

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