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# KFF: nearly 650,000 people wait for Medicaid home care
- URL: https://thevoiceofenablingtechnology.pmbofficial.com/live-wire/kff-nearly-650-000-people-wait-for-medicaid-home-care/
- Published: 2026-10-05T13:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T21:06:24.000Z
- Description: KFF counts about 650,000 people on Medicaid home care waiting lists in 2026, up about 7%, most of them people with I/DD.
- Author: The Live Wire
- Tags: #live-wire, #wire-policy, #wire-aging, #wire-disability

About 650,000 people were on waiting or interest lists for Medicaid home and community-based services in 2026, according to [a KFF analysis published Oct. 5](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2026/?ref=thevoiceofenablingtechnology.pmbofficial.com).

**Key findings:**

- [Waiting list totals rose about 7% from 2025](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2026/?ref=thevoiceofenablingtechnology.pmbofficial.com).
- 40 states keep waiting or interest lists; 32 reported increases and 7 reported decreases.
- People with intellectual or developmental disabilities make up 72% of the list.
- [The average wait is 34 months](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2026/?ref=thevoiceofenablingtechnology.pmbofficial.com), 38 months for people with I/DD and 65 months for autism waivers.

**Why it matters:** Waiver slots fund services such as supported employment and round-the-clock support. KFF notes that waiting lists understate unmet need, and that pressure on state budgets could make lists longer.

**Who it affects:** People with I/DD and their families, older adults, state agencies and HCBS providers.

**What's next:** Starting in 2027, states must report waiting list data under the federal Medicaid access rule.

**Source:** KFF, "A Look at Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services from 2016 to 2026," Oct. 5, 2026: [https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2026/](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2026/?ref=thevoiceofenablingtechnology.pmbofficial.com)