Home care news
Home care news for families: Medicaid home and community-based services, waiting lists and in-home help, with links to sources.
November 1, 2026
Caregiving
Medicare will pay to train family caregivers, but few families have used it
Since 2024, Medicare can pay a parent's clinician to teach family caregivers skills like safe transfers and medication routines. In its first year and a half, claims covered only about 9,600 people, an AARP study found.
October 30, 2026
Home care
CMS moves to add California to home health claims review as enrollment freeze nears Nov. 13 end
Medicare filed a notice to expand its home health Review Choice Demonstration to California. Separately, the national freeze on new hospice and home health agencies is set to lapse November 13 unless CMS extends it.
October 28, 2026
Caregiving
Aide shortages and Medicaid cuts are pushing more home care onto families, think tank says
The Milken Institute's aging team warns that thin home care staffing and Medicaid cuts leave families filling gaps, sometimes by cutting work hours, which can shrink retirement savings and future Social Security.
Dementia
Largest genetic study of Alzheimer's finds 48 new risk regions in DNA
Researchers studied DNA from about 2.8 million people and linked 127 regions to Alzheimer's risk. They say it guides future research but does not mean a gene test can predict who gets the disease.
Caregiving
Family caregivers now spend an average of $11,508 a year of their own money, AARP finds
A new AARP survey of 2,538 family caregivers found out-of-pocket costs have climbed about 60% in five years, far faster than inflation, and now take up nearly a third of caregivers' income.
October 27, 2026
Dementia
Most Medicare patients with dementia skip the free yearly wellness visit, study finds
In a study of nearly 800,000 Medicare patients with dementia, 60.8% had no Annual Wellness Visit in three years, and those with more visits were more likely to start a dementia medication.
Home care
Meals delivered after a hospital stay linked to fewer quick returns, Duke study finds
Older adults at risk of hunger who got two weeks of delivered meals after leaving a Duke hospital were less likely to be readmitted within two weeks. About a third of referrals never led to a delivery.
October 26, 2026
Dementia
Older adults with three or more social activities kept sharper memory, large study finds
A study of nearly 58,000 adults in 24 countries, including the U.S., found people with a mix of regular social activities, especially volunteering and clubs, scored higher on memory and thinking over about six years.
October 23, 2026
Dementia
An extra year of school led to fewer dementia diagnoses decades later in a large UK study, NIH says
A 1972 law that kept UK teens in school until 16 created a natural experiment. People at higher genetic risk benefited most, more evidence that dementia risk is not set by genes alone.
October 22, 2026
Caregiving
Pew: 4 in 10 full-time working women who help an aging parent say it has hurt their emotional well-being
A new Pew Research Center analysis finds women who care for an aging parent while working full time report far more strain than men do, and most family caregivers support tax credits and paid breaks.
Medicare
Federal charges say some seniors were put on hospice without knowing it. Here is how to check a parent's Medicare record
Prosecutors in Los Angeles charged three hospice schemes with billing Medicare more than $138 million for people who were not terminally ill. Many patients learned they were enrolled only when Medicare or their doctor called.
Caregiving
HHS updates the national dementia plan, with new focus on prevention, earlier diagnosis and family support
The federal plan for Alzheimer's and related dementias now has four goals, including caregiver support and home and community services. Nothing changes in a family's coverage today, but it signals where new programs and screening will come from.
October 21, 2026
Caregiving
Women now give about seven years of their lives to caring for older relatives, three more than men
A University of Michigan study finds women's lifetime caregiving rose by a year since 2011 while men's stayed flat. Daughters, granddaughters and nieces carry most of the load for parents and extended family.
Home careUpdated
About 650,000 people are on waiting lists for Medicaid home and community services
Waits for Medicaid-funded in-home help can stretch for years in some states, KCUR reports. Getting on a waitlist early — even before you need care — can make a real difference, including in New York.
October 19, 2026
Home care
Senate Democrats seek input on a universal home care benefit and nursing home reforms
Senate Finance Committee Democrats released an 81-page request for feedback on long-term care reform, including a universal home care benefit, nursing home ownership transparency and staffing standards, with comments due December 18.
Home care
Downstate CDPAP aides paid through PPL could share a $162 million wage settlement
About 200,000 personal assistants in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester would get roughly $680 each on average, with no claim form, if a federal judge approves the deal on November 10.
October 15, 2026
Caregiving
More than 32 million Americans help pay for an older relative's care, study finds
A new Edward Jones, Age Wave and Harris Poll study finds more than 32 million adults are financial caregivers for someone 65 or older, most spending their own savings, and only a third planned for the role ahead of time.
October 9, 2026
Home care
New Hampshire settles class action over Medicaid home care that people weren't getting
A federal court gave preliminary approval to a settlement requiring New Hampshire to act when people in its Choices for Independence program don't receive the in-home care they were approved for, and to address provider shortages.
October 6, 2026
Home care
Private equity now controls half of New York home care, and workers report low pay and long hours, Cornell study says
Researchers who studied five agencies found low wages, unpaid time and unsustainable hours, and recommend a state task force; families may notice the effects as aide turnover and missed shifts.
September 25, 2026
Caregiving
Connecticut creates a caregiver tax credit of up to $2,000 a year starting in 2027
Connecticut passed a nonrefundable tax credit covering half of eligible out-of-pocket caregiving costs, up to $2,000 a year, for family caregivers starting January 1, 2027.
September 23, 2026
Home care
Nearly 70,000 New York CDPAP caregivers file for a union election
Nearly 70,000 caregivers in New York's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, most caring for relatives, filed with federal labor officials to join 1199 SEIU, in what supporters call the largest union election in U.S. history.
September 15, 2026
Caregiving
Nearly 1 in 3 family caregivers is also raising children, AARP report finds
About 17 million Americans care for both a child under 18 and an adult with a disability or complex condition, a new AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving report finds, and most of them also hold jobs.
March 26, 2026
Caregiving
Unpaid family caregiving is worth about $1 trillion a year, AARP report finds
About 59 million family caregivers provide 49.5 billion hours of care a year, equal to the work of about 24 million full-time employees, AARP's Valuing the Invaluable report says.
Get the weekly family brief
One calm email a week with the senior care news that matters, in plain language. Unsubscribe anytime.