Implications of State Methods for Offering Personal Assistance Services

This brief examines the differences in the use and cost of personal assistance services in states that do and do not provide these services through their state plans. States that offer these services through their state plans appear to provide them to a greater number of beneficiaries at a lower cost per beneficiary than states that do not. The states that offer services also have long-term care systems that are more balanced toward home- and community-based rather than institutional long-term care services.