This grant proposal will explore critical questions about Medicaid and long-term care (LTC) policies, focusing on how federal and state-level variations affect access, quality, and equity in care. By examining the effectiveness of different federal policy levers and state-level Medicaid waivers, we aim to determine whether specific policies work better for particular subpopulations, such as dually eligible individuals, immigrant communities, or family caregivers.

The long-term care industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, while also creating some of the lowest-paid and lowest-quality jobs. These precarious working conditions are costly for workers – who are disproportionately women and women of color – and the patients they care for. On the worker side, the conditions of long-term care jobs keep families in poverty and contribute to gender and racial economic disparities in the workforce. Worker turnover is high, and worker shortages are pervasive. These