This session provided a brief overview of Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS), focusing on the range of Medicaid HCBS authorities states use to make services available. Staff also presented results from 18 stakeholder interviews with federal and state officials, beneficiary advocates representing a range of HCBS populations, and national experts on barriers that beneficiaries face accessing services (including disparities by HCBS subpopulations) and the challenges states face in administering HCBS programs. Staff also shared interviewees’ thoughts, at a conceptual level, on the idea of a core HCBS benefit as a potential way to address some of these challenges.
