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In long-anticipated move, Pennsylvania expanding coverage for in-home nursing care

The Morning Call: HARRISBURG — Years in the making, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's administration is rolling out a new Medicaid feature that's designed to reduce the future number of enrollees in nursing homes and, along with it, a fast-growing expense in a state where the elderly population is exploding.

The program takes effect Jan. 1 in 14 southwestern counties. A launch is planned in 2019 for Philadelphia and its four collar suburban counties and in 2020 for the remaining 48 counties across central and northern Pennsylvania.

It is perhaps the biggest change in Pennsylvania's $30 billion Medicaid program since 2015, when income eligibility guidelines expanded at the close of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's administration to include hundreds of thousands of low-income adults.

This shift means insurers will be paid to manage Medicaid's long-term care services, with a financial incentive to get enrollees the nursing care and services they need in a home, where it is half as expensive as a nursing home.

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