Home & community-based settings have become a growing part of states' Medicaid long-term care programs, serving as an alternative to care in institutional settings, such as nursing homes. To cover such services, however, states often obtain waivers from certain federal statutory requirements. This report reviews: (1) trends in states' use of Medicaid home & community-based service (HCBS) waivers, particularly for the elderly; (2) state quality assurance approaches, including available data on the quality of care provided to elderly individuals through waivers; & (3) the adequacy of federal oversight of state waivers. Charts & tables.