U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) announced the introduction of the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Relief Act, legislation to provide dedicated Medicaid funds for home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults, children, and youth and adults with disabilities for two years. The HCBS Relief Act would decrease the need to move people into congregate settings and allow them to receive the services and support they need from their own homes. The bill is also designed to support service provider agencies and direct care workers who provide services in homes.
Introduce and support legislation to provide dedicated Medicaid funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults, children, and adults with disabilities for two years in order to decrease institutionalization and support home-based care.
Occurrences
Evidence
Congress.gov lists Sen. Ben Ray Luján as the sponsor of S.2076, the HCBS Relief Act of 2025, introduced on 2025-06-12 and referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The summary says the bill would temporarily increase Medicaid federal matching funds for approved home- and community-based services during FY2026-FY2027.
Luján's office announced the HCBS Relief Act on 2025-06-16 and said he was proud to introduce it to provide dedicated Medicaid funds for HCBS for older adults, children, and youth and adults with disabilities for two years. The release also says he joined Senate Finance Committee Democrats to announce the bill and that it had multiple Senate cosponsors.
Congress.gov lists S.2076, the HCBS Relief Act of 2025, with Sen. Ben Ray Luján as sponsor, introduced on June 12, 2025, referred to Senate Finance, and status Introduced. The CRS summary says the bill temporarily increases the federal Medicaid matching rate for approved home- and community-based services provided during FY2026-FY2027.
The introduced bill text states that Mr. Luján introduced S.2076 on June 12, 2025, to provide an emergency increase in federal funding to State Medicaid programs for expenditures on home and community-based services. Section 2 increases the FMAP by 10 percentage points for Medicaid HCBS provided during fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and defines covered HCBS categories including home health, behavioral health, personal care, PACE, and section 1915 waiver services.
Luján’s Senate office announced that he and Rep. Debbie Dingell introduced the HCBS Relief Act to provide dedicated Medicaid funds for HCBS for older adults, children and youth, and adults with disabilities for two years. The release says the bill is intended to reduce movement into congregate settings and support care in people’s homes, and quotes Luján saying he was proud to introduce the bill.
Congress.gov’s cosponsors page for S.2076 lists Sen. Luján as sponsor and reports 17 current cosponsors, including 16 original cosponsors dated June 12, 2025.
Assessments
The promise was specifically to introduce and support legislation, not necessarily to enact the funding. Lujan sponsored S.2076, the HCBS Relief Act of 2025, during his current Senate term, and the bill matches the promised policy: dedicated Medicaid funding for HCBS for older adults, children, and adults with disabilities over FY2026-FY2027 to support home-based care and reduce institutionalization. His office also publicly promoted the bill with House and Senate partners.
The promise was to introduce and support legislation providing dedicated Medicaid funding for HCBS for two years, not necessarily to enact it. Congress.gov records Lujan as the sponsor of S.2076, the HCBS Relief Act of 2025, introduced on June 12, 2025, with a summary matching the promised two-year Medicaid HCBS funding mechanism for FY2026-FY2027. His Senate office also publicly announced and promoted the legislation with cosponsors on June 16, 2025. This occurred during his active Senate term, so the promise is fulfilled in the same term.