This webinar took place on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. PT/2:00 p.m. ET

Most older adults and people with disabilities want to be able to receive help with daily activities at home and in their communities. This type of help, which is called Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), enables older adults to remain independent at home rather than being forced to move into an institution. The Medicaid HCBS “system,” however, is a patchwork of programs with wide variation among and within states, leading to disparities in who has access to the supports and services needed to live in the community and who has no option but to receive care in an institutional setting. To address these disparities and achieve health equity for older adults and people with disabilities, policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders must begin by evaluating HCBS programs to ensure they are neither preserving nor causing inequities driven by systemic racism, ageism, ableism, classism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Justice in Aging developed an HCBS Equity Framework to support stakeholders in making equity a primary focus at every stage of HCBS program design and implementation. 

This webinar, Using an Equity Framework to Evaluate & Improve Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, will use Justice in Aging’s HCBS Equity Framework to help advocates and other stakeholders think about the ways in which equity is embedded in HCBS and to advance policies to ensure all eligible individuals have access to adequate and quality services. Presenters will walk through the Framework and provide examples of inequities in policies, program rules, and decision points. The webinar will help attendees use the Framework to identify similar issues and equity-centered solutions in the HCBS programs they work on.

Presenters:
Amber Christ, Managing Director of Health Advocacy, Justice in Aging
Natalie Kean, Director of Federal Health Advocacy, Justice in Aging
Gelila Selassie, Senior Attorney, Justice in Aging