Able Americans

The recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) includes two critical provisions, the Helping Communities with Better Support (HCBS) Act and the Rural Health Transformation Fund, that both help expand access for Americans with disabilities and also include significant federal resources that states should leverage to address challenges surrounding access to HCBS services and rural workforce issues in states.

State Medicaid agencies are facing growing pressure to reduce or eliminate HCBS waitlists and deploy new strategies to address disability workforce issues. Both opportunities allocate significant resources that states can take advantage of to address these growing challenges. This policy brief outlines how state Medicaid agencies can leverage this new law to eliminate waitlists, expand service capacity, and promote access to community-based care.