Black and Hispanic/Latinx individuals are disproportionately represented among those who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Many dual-eligible individuals require home and community-based services (HCBS), and there is growing evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in access to these services. Despite this evidence, there have been limited policy and practice changes made to improve HCBS services. New research from Community Catalyst directly engaged dually eligible HCBS users and stakeholders, providing new insights into the racial and ethnic disparities in services that provide independent community living for this population.

In this webinar, we met Leena Sharma of Center for Community Engagement in Health Innovation, Marc Cohen of LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, and Carolyn (Carrie) Fisher of Institute for Community Health. Presenters shared new research that directly engaged dually eligible older adults of color, provided strategies for addressing disparities in HCBS and improving beneficiaries’ experience, reviewed state and federal policy recommendations for improving HCBS for dually eligible people of color, and shared a vision for systemic change addressing racial and ethnic disparities in HCBS.